How to Decarbonise Your Supply Chain with PCFs

Before we dive into this, we want to share something with you.

We’ve Been Keeping a Secret…

We're thrilled to announce the launch of our dedicated online community—exclusively for in-house sustainability practitioners in the FMCG value chain!

What is it? A private space where sustainability professionals can connect, collaborate and share their learnings and achievements. Think LinkedIn meets Reddit, but solely focused on meaningful sustainability discussions.

Why join? Whether you're looking to maintain connections from our events, seeking peer advice on specific challenges, or simply need a safe space to share your thoughts and ideas—this community offers genuine, jargon-free conversations with like-minded professionals.

Launch date: 11 March 2025

?? Join the waiting list here.

How to Decarbonise Your Supply Chain with PCFs

Every procurement decision carries a carbon impact - but how do you know which changes will make the biggest difference? The answer is Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs).

Let's look at a practical example. Consider a jarred tomato product. PCFs reveal two distinct stories in your supply chain:

• For packaging, PCFs show that energy consumption in plastic and glass processing drives your emissions. Your next step is to work with suppliers on switching to renewable energy.
• For the tomatoes themselves, PCFs could highlight that land use creates your biggest impact. Here, partnering with farmers to implement regenerative agriculture practices becomes your priority.

In this example, we can see that using PCFs in a MAP-ACT-TRACK framework helps you drive supply chain decarbonisation more efficiently. Let's break down the framework.

MAP: Understanding Your Supply Chain Emissions

Moving from industry averages to supplier-specific PCFs will transform how you understand your supply chain emissions. PCFs give you precise visibility into your footprint - pinpointing exactly where action will drive the greatest impact.

Using PCFs in this initial mapping phase is crucial for two reasons:

• It allows you to set a more accurate product baseline.
• It enables smarter prioritisation by identifying which products and supplier categories drive your largest emissions.

ACT: Turning PCF Insights into Action

With PCFs providing visibility into your emissions network, the next step is developing targeted decarbonisation strategies. But first, let's address a common question: should you prioritise by individual suppliers or by product categories?

The answer is that both approaches can drive meaningful change:

• Supplier-specific: Focus on a small group of key suppliers, developing customised decarbonisation roadmaps (as covered in our previous article).
• Category-based: Create dedicated strategies for specific product types (e.g., a comprehensive milk decarbonisation strategy across your dairy suppliers).

Your PCFs will guide effective action regardless of which path you take.

TRACK: Measuring Progress and Impact

You've implemented your strategy and engaged your suppliers - but how do you know if these efforts are driving real change? Once again, PCFs provide the answer. By comparing updated PCFs against your initial PCF baseline, you can quantify the true impact of your decarbonisation initiatives.

Impact = Pre-initiative PCF - Post-initiative PCF

Check out the full article here.

Event Spotlight

In Person Event | Women in Sustainability Networking Breakfast

?????London

????27 February

???Register Here

A morning of networking, and an expert panel focused on live Supply Chain Engagement programs. This event is a space to connect, share ideas, and be inspired by women in sustainability.

Up Next On The Agenda

Digital Event | PCFs: Driving Impactful Supply Chain Engagement Programmes

???Online

????6 March

???Register Here

State of Sustainability | Food & Bev Summit 2025

?????Chicago

????March 19

???Register Here

The Strongest Arguments for Sustainability

In our latest episode, Saif Hameed explores the strongest arguments for sustainability in an era of increased scrutiny. He outlines three key business imperatives:

???Resource Scarcity

Acknowledging finite resources is crucial for the long-term viability of businesses dependent on physical materials. Companies must plan for resource constraints and adapt their growth strategies accordingly.

????Physical Climate Risk

The increasing frequency of extreme weather events and unpredictable climate patterns poses direct business risks. Forward-thinking companies are identifying these risks and taking preventive action to protect operations and supply chains.

???Consumer Evolution

A growing segment of sustainability-minded consumers is reshaping market dynamics. Companies need to consider how their sustainability positioning affects brand perception and consumer loyalty.

???Listen to the full episode here.

You’ve Got Questions. We’ve Got Answers.

From Our Latest Digital Event “Climate Goal Setting: The Role of Data Management”.

#1: "How Important Are Emissions Factors in Scenario Planning?"

Data quality is crucial for meaningful scenario planning. While we integrate leading public emission factor sources (including Ecoinvent and EPA databases), we're seeing a clear trend: serious Scope 3 reduction strategies require supplier-specific data.

Successful decarbonisation planning requires moving beyond industry averages to collect and model with supplier-specific emission factors.

#2: "What’s the Impact of New SBTi FLAG Requirements?"

The addition of FLAG (Forest, Land and Agriculture) requirements to SBTi commitments has added complexity - particularly for food and beverage companies. However, the new requirements align with data you'll need for effective initiative planning:

• Switching from spend-based to weight-based measurements
• Understanding sourcing locations
• Mapping activities at supplier locations

Most food and beverage businesses already have a lot of this data due to country of origin requirements. The complexity now could save you significant effort later in your implementation journey.

#3: "What's Next for Corporate Climate Action?"

The sustainability landscape continues to evolve with political changes. While leading companies are likely to maintain their commitments, we may see some adjustments:

• Slight moderation in target ambition
• Reduced investment levels
• More measured public communication

But, climate change remains a growth industry by necessity. While some companies may temporarily step back, the increasing urgency of the challenge means most will eventually return to meaningful climate action.

???Watch the recording of the full session here.

Other News

• ??????? London's Hackney Marshes sees wildlife revival through community action (BCC): A volunteer-led rewilding initiative has successfully restored biodiversity to east London's Hackney Marshes, bringing back kestrels, weasels, and small mammals through strategic habitat restoration. The project, funded by local authorities and led by environmental groups, has reversed wildlife decline through simple interventions like log pile creation and selective tree management. The team now plans to expand their restoration work to other London parks.
• ???? $10m XPrize accelerates drone-powered rainforest conservation (Happy Eco News): A global competition has sparked breakthrough innovations in rainforest conservation, with the $10m XPrize Rainforest challenge driving development of rapid biodiversity surveying tools. The winning team, Limelight Rainforest, used drone-deployed "treetop labs" to identify 700 types of animals and plants in just 24 hours. Other winning solutions combined AI, robotics and DNA sampling to transform how we monitor and protect critical forest ecosystems.
• ???????EU targets food and textile waste with new agreement (European Parliament): With Europeans discarding 60 million tonnes of food and 12.6 million tonnes of textiles annually, the EU Parliament and Council have reached a provisional deal to tackle this mounting waste challenge. The agreement sets binding national targets to cut food waste by 30% in retail and households and 10% in manufacturing by 2030. For textiles, producers will need to fund collection and recycling through new Extended Producer Responsibility schemes.

Receive this newsletter straight to your inbox

?? Subscribe here