With automated Emission Factor Mapping in 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management and AI-assisted ESG Report Generation in 麻豆原创 Sustainability Control Tower, 麻豆原创 can support companies in setting meaningful environmental targets, ensuring compliance, and managing carbon footprints with heightened efficiency and accountability.

鈥淪ustainability executives are on board with artificial intelligence. More than half say improving data analysis and consolidation using AI are top actions they will be taking over the next three years to enhance ESG capabilities.鈥�

Addressing the Strategy Execution Gap in Sustainability Reporting, KPMG, February 2024

Emission Factor Mapping in 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management

To calculate product carbon footprints accurately, companies must assign emission factors to thousands of purchased products. Ideally, emission factors are provided directly by suppliers, but often companies need to use industry averages based on product attributes like name, category, or location. Up until now, this mapping process has been a manual, time-consuming, and error-prone task that required expertise in lifecycle assessment (LCA), determining the environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the lifecycle of a product, process, or service.

To help make this process easier and more efficient, 麻豆原创 has introduced an AI-based capability within the solution. for purchased products and services and can assign a similarity score to each recommendation.

For the mapping, 麻豆原创 generates embeddings for both, emission factors from LCA databases and product data from the ERP system. Embeddings are vector representations 鈥� numerical representations of textual information to provide context and meaning of a text. Both sets of embeddings are saved in 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud vector engine.

The system compares these embeddings to help identify the quality of the mapping and provide suggested results. This helps businesses reduce manual effort by up to 80% and calculate product and corporate carbon footprints quicker and with greater precision, even without LCA experts. It can also accelerate their sustainability reporting timelines and help them respond faster to regulatory demands.

AI-Assisted ESG Report Generation in 麻豆原创 Sustainability Control Tower

In addition, 麻豆原创 embedded a generative AI-powered reporting capability within 麻豆原创 Sustainability Control Tower. Creating sustainability reports that align with internal strategies and meet external standards, such as the CSRD, is essential for staying compliant and transparent. However, gathering relevant environmental, social, and governance data and drafting these reports can be highly resource-intensive, involving multiple teams and complex data sources.

That鈥檚 why 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI capability helps generate comprehensive ESG report drafts based on best-practice templates and the company鈥檚 available ESG metrics. Once users select a template, , create graphs to visualize the data, and generate a polished report draft. That helps companies spend up to 98% less time collecting ESG metrics and up to 80% less time in creating a report.

Some key benefits of the feature include:

• Efficient data utilization: The AI-powered solution leverages large language models and SQL grounding techniques, which help transform natural language inquiries into precise database queries that access real-time data from structured databases. That鈥檚 how it transforms raw data from customers’ systems into accurate, comprehensive reports tailored to specific timeframes.
• Visualization: The AI generates insightful textual content through SQL-based data retrieval, helping to ensure data integrity and compliance. Additionally, it creates visually appealing charts and tables to help enhance report clarity and understanding.
• Automated verification: Our robust system prioritizes data security by avoiding direct SQL query execution and employing a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) process to help safeguard against informational discrepancies.

The Future of AI in Sustainability

The use cases above are just the beginning. AI鈥檚 potential to transform sustainability management is enormous, and at 麻豆原创 we are accelerating the creation of use cases to be at the forefront of our customers鈥� sustainable transformation journeys. For example, users will be able to interact through natural language with 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI copilot that can offer actionable recommendations and simulations to help improve environmental and social performance. And we will continue to apply AI to make the acquisition of sustainability data easier.

Using 麻豆原创鈥檚 ERP-centric, cloud-based, AI-enabled approach, we鈥檙e working to ensure AI鈥檚 massive potential turns into both real business transformation and sustainability outcomes. AI and technology can help us better understand and monitor the environment, improve energy efficiency, optimize resource management, and develop innovative solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

As COP29 convenes in Baku, it is essential for global leaders and decision-makers to fully explore AI’s transformative role in addressing climate change. The urgent demands of this crisis call for the kind of innovative, AI-driven solutions that can unlock greater precision, efficiency, and impact. By leveraging AI not only to streamline business operations but also to set and meet ambitious environmental goals, we are shaping a future where technology empowers businesses to thrive responsibly, contributing actively to a sustainable and resilient planet.

Gunther Rothermel is chief product officer and co-GM for 麻豆原创 Sustainability.

The partnership has continued to this day with a mission to make great wines and spirits that bring people together. Now, the company has over 2,000 hectares of vines under cultivation in 12 wine-growing regions of Spain, Chile, and Mexico, where the producer deploys sustainable agricultural techniques to bring indigenous vines back into production.

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Running a Responsible Business

鈥淔or us, everything revolves around sustainability,鈥� said Elisabet Braza Valle, head of 麻豆原创 Supply Chain and Finance at Gonz谩lez Byass, during an interview at 麻豆原创 Sapphire Barcelona. 鈥淥ur goal is to be a reference in the wine sector and also in the field of sustainability, and we鈥檙e using technology to do that.鈥�

Valle explained that digitalization is helping to drive efficiency by improving processes and that people are already noticing a more expeditious service. 鈥淎ll the processes are connected,鈥� she said. 鈥淐lients notice that we are preparing their packages and managing their invoices faster than before. That鈥檚 because, thanks to 麻豆原创, we have all the data in the same place.鈥�

In addition to its core 麻豆原创 ERP system, Gonz谩lez Byass recently implemented , a solution that helps enterprises calculate extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations and define corporate commitments to optimize material choices. It鈥檚 also designed to help address all the requirements of the new plastic taxes in Europe.

To help promote a more circular economy, for example, Spanish law mandates an indirect tax levied on plastic in packaging. Calculating the taxable amount is particularly complex and burdensome. Companies must know how much non-recycled plastic is in the non-reusable plastic packaging contained in the shipments they receive. This information should be furnished by the suppliers that now find themselves in a challenging situation as they did not have to comply with this type of requirement before. Collected data must be reliable and verifiable to ensure accuracy when sharing with customers or if it should be questioned by the Spanish tax authorities.

鈥溌槎乖粹�檚 solution not only helps us comply with the law, but it also helps us manage our materials more efficiently,鈥� said Valle, who believes one of the greatest assets of the solution is the visibility it provides into the company鈥檚 supplier landscape. 鈥淲e are encouraging all of our suppliers to commit to being more sustainable, and we assess them every year. We also work together to improve our environmental behavior.鈥�

Valle cited several examples of collaborative engagement, such as reducing the weight of glass bottles and using recyclable packaging materials. The company has already substituted some materials with more sustainable alternatives and is buying cardboard boxes and wood sourced from certified forests.

鈥淲e have all the information about our materials in 麻豆原创 Responsible Design and Production, so we can see how much plastic we are using and how much of it is recycled. That determines the amount of tax we pay,鈥� Valle explained. 

All these improvements are part of the company鈥檚 People and Planet program that is designed to ensure a nature-friendly, energy-efficient foundation for future generations. The efforts are paying off.

Simplifying a Complex Landscape

According to its sustainability report for 2022, Gonz谩lez Byass already reuses or recycles 99% of the waste it generates and 79% of the energy it consumes comes from renewable sources. Water conservation efforts include using rainwater for irrigation, underground irrigation, and satellite-controlled irrigation.

Gonz谩lez Byass has already reduced carbon emissions by 20% and is committed to a 55% reduction by 2030. Besides managing its own regulatory obligations in Spain, the company must also be compliant with other regulations in the EU and the UK that impact its business. For example, recycling glass packaging waste is mandatory in all EU Member States. In Spain, this process is driven by Ecovidrio, a non-profit entity managing the Collective System of Extended Producer Responsibility (SCRAP).

鈥淥ne of our next projects is to set up Ecovidrio in the 麻豆原创 Responsible Design and Production solution, where we manage all our tax declarations and reports,鈥� Valle said. 鈥淎nother critical report is the declaration for the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Technology is helping us become a global reference in the sector because now we鈥檝e integrated all relevant information needed for compliance.鈥�

Four of its wineries have received the Wineries for Climate Protection certification, the first of such credentials specific to the wine industry targeting environmental sustainability. The certification recognizes sustainability activities in wineries in four key areas: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, managing water, reducing waste, and increasing energy efficiency.

Valle is confident that with the aid of technology Gonz谩lez Byass will not only be a leader and a reference in the sector, but, most importantly, it will secure its place as an exceptional winemaker for posterity. After all, since its most iconic wine , it鈥檚 a good thing Gonz谩lez Byass is doing everything to continue producing the best wines and spirits for future connoisseurs. 

While it鈥檚 relatively straightforward to control and reduce a company’s direct emissions, mitigating those that arise along the whole supply chain requires a lot of time, collaboration, and data sharing. One major challenge companies face is outdated tools, such as spreadsheets or questionnaires, and disconnected processes to collaborate with their network. Furthermore, the lack of standardized carbon footprint calculations and exchange methods has led to a variety of different approaches to collect and report on data, resulting in many organizations relying only on industry averages rather than actual numbers.

Managing carbon to accelerate a net-zero future makes measurability critically important. That is where technology and innovation can make a real difference. With 麻豆原创 Sustainability solutions and our ERP-centric, cloud-based, AI-enabled approach, we support our customers to use integrated sustainability data and embed it holistically into their core business processes.

What Is 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange?

麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange helps facilitate standardized carbon data exchange between partners along the supply chain, supporting organizations to move from estimates to actuals in their upstream emission data. The application allows users to share emissions data to help implement their net-zero strategy and take climate action by identifying products or processes with high potential for CO2 reduction, avoiding double emissions counting, and optimizing footprints with actual supplier data. It helps drive scalability, standardization, and trust in carbon data exchange across the supply chain.

麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange is seamlessly embedded into the 麻豆原创 landscape, connecting to for master data replication and integrating with to help enable accurate product carbon footprint calculations on a large scale.

To Harness the Power of Networks, Standardization Is Key

To be able to exchange carbon footprint values, standardization and interoperability with industry networks and frameworks are key, as they foster co-innovation and collaboration without a loss of data sovereignty. 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange is interoperable and compliant with the new standards set by the automotive network and the Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT) by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development ().

PACT, for example, developed the global standard for calculating and exchanging consistent, comparable, and credible emission data that occurs along a company鈥檚 value chain and is outside its direct control, known as scope 3 emissions. Catena-X works closely with PACT to establish a joint standardization foundation on carbon accounting and sharing while adding industry-specific extensions.

Catena-X has certified 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange for its sustainability use case. , a tier 1 automotive supplier, was one of the first customers to harness the application when it faced challenges in calculating its product carbon footprint in a standardized way to exchange product carbon footprint values with both customers and suppliers. With 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange, WITTE Automotive can integrate the supplier footprints it receives through the Catena-X network, precisely calculate the product carbon footprint of parts and components, and publish the calculated values of its finished products within the network.

鈥淭his open and collaborative data ecosystem perfectly reflects 麻豆原创鈥檚 vision to enable every organization to become a network of intelligent, sustainable enterprises and gives the companies leveraging the Catena-X automotive network access to a broad portfolio of 麻豆原创 solutions, from enabling the traceability of products across multiple parties in the supply chain to tracking and calculating the scope 3 emissions.鈥�

– Christian Klein, CEO, 麻豆原创 SE

In addition, 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange embraces the power of , leveraging the depth and breadth of a global network trusted by millions of businesses, through which nearly US$6 trillion of annual commerce is executed via over 750 million transactions.

A Core Pillar of the Green Ledger

Having an accurate view of carbon emissions across the entire supply chain not only enables data exchange but can have a real impact on the bottom line. Many companies want to make carbon an integral part of the corporate balance sheet, measuring and managing it with the same precision as cash 鈥� therefore treating carbon like money. The use of 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange and 麻豆原创 Green Ledger, which will be generally available at the end of 2024, can provide a strong basis for making financial decisions.

Start the 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange product tour to learn more.

麻豆原创 Sustainability solutions can support even more than carbon management and environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related disclosures. Check out our to learn more about support for operational compliance and material transition and subscribe to the to stay up-to-date.

Gunther Rothermel is chief product officer and co-GM for 麻豆原创 Sustainability.

麻豆原创 pledges to remove and reduce more emissions than it annually emits and to conserve 25 million trees on its way to net zero in 2030. The financial contribution will support carbon removal and carbon reduction projects:

• Carbon removal projects: These projects remove carbon emissions from the atmosphere and store them for decades 鈥� in an ideal scenario, the storage is permanent. Examples include nature-based and technical solutions such as reforestation, where trees store carbon emissions in their biomass as well as direct air capture and storage technologies.
• Carbon reduction projects: Also known as carbon avoidance projects, these projects prevent additional carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere, reducing the overall amount of carbon emitted. Examples include avoided deforestation or energy efficiency projects.

This doubling down on its net-zero strategy follows 麻豆原创鈥檚 successful delivery on its pledge to become carbon neutral in its own operations in 2023 by balancing out unavoidable emissions with carefully selected carbon credits. While the company鈥檚 use of the statement 鈥渃arbon-neutrality鈥� will be discontinued, the dedication to reduce its carbon footprint and finance climate action beyond its own value chain remains strong.

麻豆原创 Is On Track to Plant 21 Million Trees and Plans More

麻豆原创 is on track to meet its 2025 goal of planting 21 million trees and has now raised its reforestation commitment.

By 2030, 麻豆原创 will support trusted partners and communities to plant and protect a total of 25 million trees helping to conserve diverse forests. Furthermore, 麻豆原创 will fund the conservation and rewetting of coastal and inland wetlands such as bogs and mangrove swamps. With these conservation initiatives and the increased reforestation pledge, 麻豆原创鈥檚 goal is to conserve more land than its offices and owned data centers occupy worldwide.

To ensure that selected projects deliver a positive outcome, 麻豆原创 will continue to apply the rigorous and robust due diligence that has previously informed the selection of successful climate investments such as 麻豆原创鈥檚 long partnership with , where 麻豆原创 has funded the planting of trees in Senegal, Rwanda, India, Indonesia, Guatemala, and Mexico.

麻豆原创鈥檚 Climate Finance Contribution on the Path to Net Zero

Bridging the Gap

麻豆原创 firmly believes that financing climate projects beyond a company鈥檚 value chain should be an item on every corporate sustainability agenda. As long as it does not undermine current corporate decarbonization programs, the financial muscle of corporations can bridge the gap in parts of the world where fiscal finances are not robust enough to restore ecosystems and build resilient low carbon economies and livelihoods.

This financial contribution will provide quantifiable benefits to mitigate the effects of climate change beyond 麻豆原创鈥檚 own value chain with investments in projects that deliver a positive impact for the climate, for local and global populations, and for biodiversity.

The level of the financial contribution is determined by 麻豆原创’s own emissions in a given year and is disclosed in terms of carbon emissions, since costs for carbon projects can be subject to change. 

With this financial contribution and increased commitment to land conservation and reforestation, 麻豆原创 continues its journey to introduce meaningful measures to achieve net-zero in 2030, 20 years earlier than originally planned.

Financing climate projects at the same time as pursuing its corporate net-zero agenda allows 麻豆原创 to take responsibility for emissions that cannot be avoided and actively mitigate climate change on a global level. Furthermore, the financial contribution will enable positive climate action on a far greater scale than 麻豆原创 could achieve alone.

Shifting Perceptions

In the last 15 years, corporate sustainability at 麻豆原创 has shifted perceptions on how corporations manage their own carbon emissions and how corporate sustainability agendas must be as actionable as they are accountable.

Since 2012, the has shared information on 麻豆原创鈥檚 annual environmental performance and progress on corporate sustainability targets. 麻豆原创 has led the way in showing that corporate sustainability is an integral part of business 鈥� not just an add-on to strategy or operations.

麻豆原创鈥檚 carbon impact is one of the sustainability KPIs that are indicators of future performance and form the basis of compensation elements for members of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE. Today, sustainability is deeply embedded in 麻豆原创鈥檚 vision to bring out the best in every business. With its , sustainability is anchored in 麻豆原创鈥檚 purpose to make the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives.

A once nascent market, carbon accounting and management is experiencing a significant transition in the number, type, and capability of solutions available. The landscape formerly comprised of startup and niche vendors has expanded to include large independent software vendors (ISVs) and hyperscalers, all battling for market share.

Organizations are under increasing pressure to track and disclose carbon emissions data to stakeholders including investors, partners, clients, customers, employees, and regulators. Many are collecting data and reporting on Scope 1 and 2 emissions. Scope 3 remains a challenge due to the complexity of reliable data collection and reporting.

Fines and litigation will create a new impetus for reporting as well. Regulations will add a new element of complexity to how companies report. Disclosure of decarbonization initiatives will require unique data analysis and scenario planning tools. The IDC report points to data integration as a principal challenge for carbon accounting vendors.

麻豆原创 Carbon Accounting & Management: Rising to the Challenge

麻豆原创 is well-positioned to provide organizations with data-driven, purpose-specific carbon management solutions that are ERP centric, cloud based, and AI enabled. These include 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management, 麻豆原创 Sustainability Control Tower, 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange, the 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud solution for EHS environment management, and 麻豆原创 Green Ledger, which all help to enable carbon accounting and management on a transactional level and transform emissions tracking processes.

Our carbon management solutions are best suited for organizations currently using or planning to use 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud and looking to capture the value of sustainability, as well as manage sustainability-related business risks. Customers can address these objectives by embedding sustainability into their end-to-end business processes, leveraging ERP and supplier data, and using the metrics to inform business processes and financial reporting.

Having the ability to assess carbon and financial data on the same transactional level adds a new dimension to the way organizations address carbon budgets, make capital allocation decisions, and cascade and scale change management. This transformation allows for targeted sustainability actions and more precise financial decisions.

麻豆原创 can leverage its ERP-centric sustainability approach of supporting both corporate and transaction-level product carbon footprints as a differentiator. Integration with other financial applications 鈥� procurement, supply chain, risk, and compliance management 鈥� is a standard feature of the 麻豆原创 Sustainability portfolio.

Staying ahead of carbon taxes, penalties, and upcoming regulatory requirements will also play a key role in how organizations report. Alignment between CFOs and CSOs will become more frequent due to the overlapping responsibilities and sustainability management component, as they affect both corporate risk and cash flow.

According to the IDC MarketScape, 鈥渢he portfolio of sustainability offerings is built on a foundation of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud, limiting adoption to the universe of users. Furthermore, while modular in design, much of the solutions鈥� value is dependent on the adoption of multiple system elements, thus commanding a higher price point.鈥� 麻豆原创 is responding with the speed and agility of cloud delivery combined with integrated sustainability data within the core enterprise resource planning system. This will be critical in helping to optimize customers鈥� sustainability and financial performance and become the very foundation of their future business success.

By unifying sustainability and financial data, 麻豆原创 customers can unlock carbon emissions insights, positively impacting decision-making and forecasting on all hierarchical levels. With end-to-end carbon management and the added transactional-level carbon emissions data, organizations can improve operational efficiency, foster emissions transparency, and comply with developing regulations. Achieving a sustainability transformation 鈥� one that benefits the bottom line and the planet 鈥� is truly within reach. Find out more .

The IDC study provides a comprehensive analysis of carbon management platforms, highlighting the increasing need for organizations to track, manage, and report carbon emissions amid evolving regulatory landscapes and stakeholder pressures. It evaluates vendors based on their capabilities and strategies to meet future customer needs, focusing on innovation, customer satisfaction, and the ability to support organizations in their decarbonization efforts. “In an era of escalating environmental scrutiny, mastering carbon accounting is not just compliance, but a strategic imperative for future-proofing businesses,” said Amy Cravens, research manager, ESG Reporting and Management Applications at IDC.

Alicia Lenze is global head of Sustainability Marketing at 麻豆原创 SE.

Specifically, companies registered with the SEC now must disclose their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as in those resulting from both their direct emissions and purchases of electricity and fuel.

Critics of the ruling say it adds to the burden of reporting to multiple government agencies. Others believe the SEC is not going far enough, as its decision does not require the disclosure of Scope 3 emissions, which are generated by a company鈥檚 suppliers and customers.

Among the reasons the SEC decided against mandating the disclosure of Scope 3 emissions was the potential difficulty in collecting and measuring this data as well as potential high costs.

At 麻豆原创,听 we embrace the SEC鈥檚 ruling not just as a regulatory measure, but as a promising avenue for companies to thrive by leveraging technology to harness the power of business data.

We are not merely observing from the sidelines; we are actively partnering with our customers to empower them in accurately monitoring emission, reducing energy costs, and streamlining their business processes.

Our commitment goes beyond compliance — we are dedicated to enabling companies to stay agile in both voluntary and mandatory reporting, recognizing the ever-evolving landscape of emissions disclosure regulations. This sentiment is underscored not only by the recent SEC rule but also by the stringent laws such as the one and the EU鈥檚 (CSRD).

麻豆原创 has the technology to make Scope 3 emissions accurate, granular, and stable. We are seeing customers adopt digital technologies that will enable them to comply with all existing and anticipated regulatory requirements around the world up and down their value chains to track emissions accurately, including Scope 3, where applicable.

From our experience, sustainability management solutions from 麻豆原创 can benefit businesses while helping them stay compliant with local and global regulations. 麻豆原创 makes end-to-end carbon management seamless by embedding it into business processes through a cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This offers companies the ability to create a by connecting their financial data with accurate and verifiable emissions data. When this data is connected, they can innovate their operations and supply chains to be more sustainable and competitive.

The essence of the SEC鈥檚 impact lies in our unwavering belief in collaboration. Our business-to-business network enables our customers to meet the challenge of disclosing emissions data under various reporting requirements. This ability to accurately track emissions allows companies鈥� stakeholders, including their supply chain partners, to access that information on public websites or mobile apps so they can meet and even exceed the most stringent reporting requirements.

With 麻豆原创鈥檚 enterprise solutions, companies can operate today while increasing the overall availability and transparency of carbon data. These same solutions also allow for the proactive identification of supply chain partners so companies can further decrease their carbon emissions. Concurrently, government agencies can easily access companies鈥� emissions data using already available enterprise software to improve their emissions reduction goals.

麻豆原创鈥檚 Holistic Approach to Cloud-Based Sustainability and Business Transformation

The reality of our future economy is that it is cloud-based and sustainable. That鈥檚 why we see our customers transitioning to more agile business models that drive sustainable outcomes.

麻豆原创 guides them through this new reality by providing the technology that allows for their business process shifts across their value chains. Whether they are new local or regional emissions rules, plastic taxes or , 麻豆原创 is ready to work with customers to minimize any disruptions with these new reporting requirements.

With a comprehensive and integrated approach to sustainability, 麻豆原创 solutions move beyond compliance and operationalize sustainability across companies鈥� operations. Customers can build on their ERP solutions over time, transforming business processes for maximum sustainable impact. Companies can also deploy to inform, predict, and optimize sustainable outcomes. These same tools can leverage sustainability regulations and help companies achieve business process transformation.

We are hopeful that governments will advance carbon accounting globally. Taking that step will harmonize regional and global reporting frameworks and ensure optimal reuse of companies鈥� existing data flows and business processes.

This SEC decision makes it more important than ever for companies to use digital technologies to track their emissions accurately and not rely on estimated data that often undercounts carbon emissions.

Regulations can actually . We are in a world where businesses must pivot quickly due to externalities like economic shocks, political shifts, and climate-related disasters. 麻豆原创 has the technology to help companies rapidly adapt to these changes and new regulations.

Sophia Mendelsohn is chief sustainability and commercial officer and co-general manager for 麻豆原创 Sustainability. 

For companies to act sustainably, responsibly, and efficiently, they must harness the power of data-driven decisions and advanced technology to reduce their carbon footprint and create sustainable product portfolios. Enter 麻豆原创 and its broad ecosystem of industry cloud partners with a shared vision to help businesses become strategic, sustainable, intelligent enterprises.听

Hack2Build Opens Door for Innovation and Sustainability 

The , organized by 麻豆原创 Co-Innovation Lab, is an initiative designed to harness the creativity and speed of prototyping industry cloud solutions by 麻豆原创 partners in days as opposed to weeks. At a September 2022 Hack2Build event, 麻豆原创 partner Infosys presented a solution for organizations to identify, track, predict, and refine carbon emissions during sales and operations planning (S&OP) and make sustainable decisions. The solution, , was built using 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning (麻豆原创 IBP) for Supply Chain, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP), 麻豆原创 Integration Suite, and 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management.

Framework for Tracking Emissions Leverages the Power of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Industry Cloud听

Infosys鈥� carbon footprint solution calculates carbon emissions based on greenhouse gas protocols and global warming potential factors across an organization’s procurement, production, and distribution processes. It helps calculate key information, such as estimates of CO2e emissions per order level, thereby helping to make decisions that can ensure a smaller carbon footprint. The solution also provides an innovative framework to help companies identify, track, predict, and refine their carbon emissions numbers throughout the entire supply chain process.听

麻豆原创-Validated Partner Use Case Program Offers Momentum to Service Partner Solution听

Infosys鈥� solution is part of the 麻豆原创-validated partner use case program. The program was established to give 麻豆原创 service partners the ability to showcase, position, and promote solutions and spotlight their expertise of 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, leveraging the power of 麻豆原创鈥檚 vast customer base and industry networks.听听

The 麻豆原创-validated partner use case program offers service partners the ability to: 

• Get amplified market reach: Increased visibility enables service partners to target a broader audience, opening doors to new markets and untapped opportunities. Leveraging 麻豆原创鈥檚 robust platform, partners can position themselves strategically and expand their global reach.听
• Collaborate and co-innovate: Participating in the 麻豆原创-validated partner use case program can foster collaboration with 麻豆原创 experts, industry leaders, and customers.听听听
• Access a dynamic ecosystem: Partners can benefit from 麻豆原创鈥檚 ecosystem, where they can collaborate, exchange knowledge, and share best practices with some of the industry鈥檚 best leaders.听听
• Develop customer-centric solutions: The program helps put the customer at the core of solution development. Service partners can gain valuable customer insights though interactions facilitated by 麻豆原创, leading to better-tailored products and services that can precisely address users’ pain points.听

The program presents opportunities for both customers and service partners to flourish. By achieving certification, service partners can earn credibility, expand market reach, and foster collaborative innovation with industry giants. Its streamlined processes help accelerate time-to-market, providing a significant advantage in today’s fast-paced business landscape.听

The program unlocks a door to a dynamic ecosystem where partners can learn, grow, and develop customer-centric solutions that can meet industry demands head-on. For partners aiming to thrive in their respective industries, this program is a game changer. Service partners are encouraged to embrace the power of the 麻豆原创-validated partner use case program and transform their business.听

鈥淚nfosys is delighted to publish the Infosys Sustainable S&OP and Carbon Footprint Management Solution through the 麻豆原创-validated partner use case program,鈥� said Atul Chorbele, AVP at Infosys. 鈥淲e are confident that customers across industries will benefit from adopting this solution.鈥�   

Holger Brammer, Global Partner Ecosystem vice president at 麻豆原创, praised this partner solution and the development process: 鈥淚t was impressive to see how fast Infosys developed this solution on 麻豆原创 BTP and integrated it with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, 麻豆原创 IBP, and 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management. I鈥檓 quite confident that this solution will resonate very well with customers.鈥澨�

To learn how to build industry innovation on 麻豆原创 BTP and the 麻豆原创-validated partner use case program or get more information about validated use cases on the 麻豆原创 PartnerEdge site, contact Lucca Sperl, industry cloud innovation program lead.听To learn more about Infosys鈥� solution, .听

Vidya Gugnani is senior director and industry cloud ecosystem lead for Strategic Partners, North America at 麻豆原创.
Nitin Majahan is COE lead for 麻豆原创 Industrial Manufacturing at Infosys.

Top image courtesy of 麻豆原创 employee Karsten Hohage

Many organizations, however, face the challenge of gaining the data transparency needed for accurate reporting and actionable decision-making. Nearly . This is especially troubling considering there has been a . An organization鈥檚 ability to measure and report sustainability data across value chains accurately, reliably, and at scale has become an essential element of modern go-to-market and compliance strategies.

The solution? A new generation of powerful technologies working in concert to unlock the power of sustainability data. 麻豆原创鈥檚 robust sustainability solutions, built on a foundation of (麻豆原创 BTP), can enable customers to stitch together complex sets of data sources, applications, and business processes into one unified view. In turn, customers can accelerate their innovation, measure and report on their ESG goals, and ultimately build a more competitive, more sustainable future. 

Center Ice with NHL

Sustainability pioneers are in every industry. In the sporting world, the (NHL) was an early mover, starting its sustainability journey in 2010. It announced the initiative, which promotes and implements sustainable best practices across its 32 ice hockey clubs. Initially, it tracked carbon footprint metrics. Now, venue operators track an estimated 20 sustainability-related data points, such as electricity, natural gas, water waste, and recycling, for every arena. In a recent conversation with Member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE and Chief Marketing and Solutions Officer Julia White, Omar Mitchell, vice president of Sustainable Infrastructure and Growth Initiatives at the NHL, said, 鈥淲e play our game in what are essentially giant refrigerators. We鈥檙e using a lot of energy, a lot of resources. Measurement is key; you cannot impact what you do not measure.鈥�

By 2018, the NHL published two sustainability reports and began the process of modernizing its data collection systems. Mitchell said the NHL turned to 麻豆原创 BTP as an 鈥渋nnovative platform that could help streamline this process, make it easier for stakeholders to input data, and to visualize key insights in one end-to-end solution.鈥� Together, 麻豆原创 and the NHL built the NHL Venue Metrics Platform 鈥� a tool that allows its clubs and venue partners to input their environmental data and develop meaningful insights.

The NHL isn鈥檛 stopping there. It also hopes to get fans involved too by providing real-time venue insights and environmental impacts. 鈥淥ur fans are so passionate about hockey and the League鈥檚 environmental impact,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淏y getting them involved, we can have true collective impact, which is the most powerful tool to elicit change.鈥�

By prioritizing its sustainability green line, the is making a positive environmental impact, improving its customer experience, and setting the League up for success in the long run.

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Sustainability Is Good for Business

Embedding sustainability into corporate strategy is critical for customers to unlock their full business potential. The NHL achieved this with the help of a best-in-class technology platform and data solutions, two vital pieces of the puzzle to gain accurate visibility across the value chain, measure sustainability-related data points, and set net-zero targets.

JG Chirapurath is chief marketing and solutions officer of 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform and AI.

Scope 3 emissions from activities across suppliers, product lifecycles, and customer usage comprise the overwhelming majority of emissions for telecommunications companies. While progress has been made on scope 1 and 2 emissions, scope 3 emissions remain a blind spot that demands urgent action. Addressing scope 3 emissions is vital for telecommunications companies to meet climate goals and lead the transition to a sustainable digital future.

According to the , the global telecommunications industry emitted 1.7 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in 2019, representing approximately 2% of total global emissions. Telecommunications companies have an outsized opportunity to drive change and reduce emissions given their scale and influence across global supply chains and billions of customers worldwide.

Now is the time for telecommunications companies to step up with courageous leadership, collective action across the ecosystem, transparency, and a laser focus on reducing scope 3 emissions.

Understanding Scope 3 Emissions in Telecommunications

Scope 3 emissions encompass the vast majority of emissions across the telecommunications value chain. Key sources include:

Supply chain
Manufacturing, transport, and disposal of network equipment makes up the largest share, such as 60% of Verizon’s total scope 3

Product usage
Energy consumption of infrastructure, data centers, and devices

Customers
Emissions from using products and services represent over 20% for leading telecommunications companies

While methodologies vary, standards like the enable consistent and transparent scope 3 accounting. Robust data collection and industry alignment will enhance accuracy over time. The urgency of climate action necessitates that telecommunications companies act now to address primary scope 3 hotspots like supply chain and product usage.

Success requires transparency, cooperation, and immediate commitment to tackle scope 3 emission sources.

Challenges in Calculating Scope 3 Emissions in the Telecommunications Industry

Calculating scope 3 emissions poses major challenges for telecommunications companies, including:

• Data limitations: Telecommunications companies lack visibility into supplier and vendor emissions. Greater transparency and coordination are essential.
• Complex value chains: Varied reporting mechanisms across the vast partner ecosystem create aggregation difficulties.
• Methodology alignment: Companies must determine boundaries and allocate shared infrastructure emissions while adhering to accounting standards.
• Rapid technology changes: Emerging solutions like 5G and the Internet of Things (IoT) require continuous emissions monitoring.

Robust data collection, industry collaboration, and transparency will be vital to overcome these obstacles. Standardized methodologies guided by established protocols will enhance accuracy over time.

Above all, open cooperation across telecommunications value chains is crucial to drive scope 3 progress. From suppliers to customers, aligning stakeholders to prioritize emissions reductions will accelerate the sustainability shift, despite near-term uncertainty. Telecommunications companies have the scale and influence to lead the way.

Strategies for Mitigating Scope 3 Emissions

Telecommunications companies can mitigate scope 3 emissions through:

Supplier collaboration
Joint research and development (R&D), audits, and incentive programs enable partners to reduce their supply chain footprint. AT&T uses a sustainability scorecard to motivate action.

Renewable energy
Shifting infrastructure and operations to clean power significantly decreases emissions. BT Group and Telef贸nica aim for 100% renewable electricity use.

Eco-design
Prioritizing recyclable and energy-efficient materials and manufacturing reduces lifecycle impacts. Vodafone’s Eco Rating drives more sustainable devices.

Customer engagement
Awareness campaigns, energy-saving tips, and green tariffs incentivize sustainable usage. Orange’s set-top box eco-rating nudges consumers.

Policy and regulation
Scope 3 requirements in markets like the EU also drive telecommunications companies to address value chain emissions through mandated reporting and carbon pricing.

Additionally, telecommunications companies can further engage customers through expanded recycling and take-back programs to optimize device lifecycles. Services like leasing instead of selling phones can incentivize longevity. Features that track energy consumption also enable users to reduce their footprint.

There are still challenges, but collective effort across the telecommunications ecosystem can drive progress on scope 3 emissions. Engagement and incentives can accelerate emissions reductions across value chains from suppliers to customers. With their global scale, telecommunications companies must lead the way.

Calculating and Reporting

To enable accurate and consistent scope 3 accounting, telecommunications companies should:

• Adopt recognized standards like the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain Standard, which provides comprehensive guidance.
• Improve supplier data collection through surveys and supplier engagement platforms.
• Increase transparency by regularly disclosing scope 3 inventories and strategies in sustainability reports.
• Obtain third-party verification for scope 3 emissions data to ensure reliability.
• Collaborate with industry peers and partners to align methodologies and reporting.
• Continuously refine calculations by incorporating improved data sources and emission factors.
• Supplement inventory accounting with scenario modeling to project future emissions.

While uncertainties remain, standardized and transparent scope 3 reporting is vital to understand emissions baselines, track progress over time, and hold companies accountable. Investors and customers are increasingly demanding credible disclosure.

Telecommunications companies should lead the drive towards robust scope 3 accounting and reporting across sectors. Their commitment can catalyze broader adoption of carbon transparency.

Using 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange, telecommunications companies can collaborate with partners, enhance awareness and engagement of stakeholders, gain insights, mitigate risks, and seize opportunities to reduce and offset emissions.

Ultimately, courageous leadership and collective diligence across telecommunications company value chains are imperative to drive progress. Telecommunications companies have the influence to spearhead robust and transparent scope 3 practices across all sectors. But, success hinges on prioritizing partnerships, integrity, and environmental stewardship above all. The moment for action has come.

For more information on how 麻豆原创 helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit .

Venkata Rao is a business transformation expert at 麻豆原创.
Mohan Shekar is head of Industry Service at 麻豆原创.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to drive change and create a positive impact. We can help create a more harmonious relationship between humanity and our planet by embracing sustainability, fostering innovation and collaboration, and advocating for policy change.

I鈥檝e heard CEO Steven Tebbe鈥檚 warning loud and clear: he states that persistent overshoot leads to more prominent symptoms, including unusual heat waves, forest fires, droughts, and floods. This, in turn, increases the risk of compromising food production. His conclusion: it is in the interest of cities, countries, and business entities to foster their own resource security if they want to prosper 鈥� to the benefit of the Earth as well.

It鈥檚 encouraging to see how organizations across the globe collaborate for a sustainable future that will help us #MoveTheDate. According to the , 5,500 companies are taking actions to reduce emissions. More than 2,100 companies out of those have made net-zero commitments. Businesses have realized that it is important to incorporate sustainability in their business strategies to mitigate the evolving investor pressure, consumer demand, and regulatory constraints. As the rightly pointed out, more rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary to achieve deep and sustained emissions reductions and secure a livable and sustainable future for all.

But how can we make this happen? Actually, there are several levers that might significantly move Earth Overshoot Day closer to year鈥檚 end 鈥� and companies like 麻豆原创 can contribute to them.

Reducing the carbon component of humanity鈥檚 ecological footprint by 50% would move Earth Overshoot Day by 93 days, or more than three months.*

The change with the biggest impact as identified by the Global Footprint Network is carbon reduction. 麻豆原创 has continuously expanded its since 2009. It became the first German company to work with science-based emissions reduction targets in 2017. Two years later, 麻豆原创 was one of the first seven global companies to have 1.5掳C-aligned reduction targets for 2050. We accelerated this timeline last year by committing to becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030, 20 years earlier than the original target.

While walking the talk is key, providing digital solutions and services to help every business run as an intelligent and sustainable enterprise is how we can scale these efforts. We can support thousands of customers in managing their carbon footprint, reducing material waste, and becoming socially responsible businesses.鈥� For example, helps businesses gain material sourcing transparency and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data across their supply chains. This includes the material input scope 3 carbon footprint as it moves from supplier to supplier. 麻豆原创鈥檚 new green ledger initiative helps companies track their carbon accounting with more precision and control by using actual data across their business operations and supply chains instead of estimates.

Increasing global, low-carbon electricity sources from 39% to 75% would move the date by 26 days.*

At 麻豆原创, we have been using 100% renewable energy to power all our data centers and offices since 2014. It enables us to offer customers carbon-neutral cloud software solutions that help them reduce their overall carbon emissions.

In alignment with our commitment to the RE100 initiative, we use two strategic levers. Firstly, we invest in high-quality, EKOenergy-certified EACs to foster renewable energy generation. Secondly, we produce renewable electricity at selected 麻豆原创 locations. One example is the 麻豆原创 Labs India location in Bengaluru. It runs on the power generated from the on-site solar power grid along with Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting systems. To innovate and scale businesses in support of the clean energy transition, we work with energy customers such as , , and .

Reducing the footprint from driving by 50% around the world and replacing one-third of car miles by public transportation and the rest by biking and walking would move the date by 13 days.*

According to , 20% of the world鈥檚 carbon emissions are from transportation. To help reduce this, we track our impact in the global 麻豆原创 commuting survey. According to the survey, average CO2e emissions per employee per day dropped by 70% from 4.38kg in 2018 to 1.30kg in 2022 due to working from home and emission-free commuting.

麻豆原创 also stated that from 2025, all new company cars will be emission-free in operation. In support of this transition, we are enhancing the charging infrastructure at our facilities and intend to leverage 麻豆原创 E-Mobility, a standardized, cloud-based solution. It can provide a complete package that enables charge point operators to run their business efficiently and profitably.

These are just three examples that would move Earth Overshoot Day closer to New Year鈥檚 Eve 鈥� the day when human consumption and Earth鈥檚 regenerative capacity would be in balance. But we are not there yet. Today, Earth Overshoot Day serves as a poignant reminder that despite the strides made, our efforts are not yet enough to mitigate the growing ecological crisis. We have witnessed positive shifts in attitudes and actions towards sustainability, but the urgency of the moment demands that we intensify our commitments and actions.

It is time to rethink, recalibrate, and redesign our way of living and doing business in alignment with the planetary boundaries. The responsibility to protect and nurture our planet does not rest solely on the shoulders of policymakers or industry leaders; it rests on each of us. Let us collaborate towards a more balanced relationship with our planet and a sustainable future that safeguards Earth鈥檚 resources.

Daniel Schmid is chief sustainability officer at 麻豆原创.
*Source:

The global supply chain continues to contribute to a significant part of our social and environmental impacts. At 麻豆原创, we are working towards a sustainable supply chain by eliminating single-use plastics, decreasing carbon emissions, enforcing human rights, and closely collaborating with a diverse supplier network 鈥� including social enterprises 鈥� across our seven procurement categories. As a purpose-driven company, we are always looking for ways to improve through our global procurement organization. Sustainable procurement practices have become one of the key enablers in achieving net-zero targets.

At 麻豆原创, we aim to establish a multi-phased听supply chain engagement program by 2024 for our key suppliers听to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions along our upstream value chain. The program will incorporate environmental considerations throughout the procurement process by integrating a new sustainability classification system and embedding environmental impact criteria in procurement documentation.

鈥淩educing scope 3 emissions is a key factor on the journey to net zero. This is a team effort, and we are happy to collaborate with our business partners on reducing emissions throughout our supply chain,鈥� said Dominik Asam, chief financial officer and member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE. 鈥淲ith our supply chain engagement program, we will integrate a new sustainability classification system into our procurement process and embed environmental impact criteria in our procurement documentation.鈥�

We plan to work with our top 100 suppliers to report and record product-level emissions. We aim to have all of our top 100 suppliers report their company-wide emissions and product-level emissions for relevant key products by 2027, allowing 麻豆原创 to report emissions based on actuals instead of averages. Standardizing and sharing sustainability data securely provides clarity on exactly who is accountable to reduce emissions. We plan to leverage for CO2 information exchange. This will help increase transparency through the supply chain, so we can mutually act to significantly reduce scope 3 emissions and support 麻豆原创鈥檚 2030 net-zero commitment.

Nikolaus Kirner is chief procurement officer at 麻豆原创.

What most people don鈥檛 realize: the NHL is a sustainability pioneer in the sports industry.

I sat down with Omar Mitchell, vice president of Sustainable Infrastructure and Growth Initiatives at the NHL, to record a . We discussed why the NHL is focused on environmental stewardship and how technology can help understand and manage the organization鈥檚 carbon footprint. .

鈥淲hen we think about things that we need for the continuation of hockey, we need things like natural ice, cold weather, and fresh water,鈥� said Mitchell. 鈥淲e also need vibrant and healthy communities where we can play our sport.鈥�

Mitchell explained the environmental impact of holding games indoors: 鈥淲e play in what is essentially a giant refrigerator and we use a lot of energy — not to mention the lights we use to illuminate the ice鈥檚 surface.鈥�

Environmental sustainability is a priority for听 the NHL. That鈥檚 why Commissioner Gary Bettman initiated the program, launched at the 2010 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic, announcing its mission to embed sustainable business practices across the League and its member clubs.

In 2014, the organization issued its first sustainability report, which was also the first of its kind created by any North American professional sports league. The report included a carbon inventory for the League, allowing the NHL to have an initial understanding of the environmental impact of its Clubs.

鈥淚t was a documentation of all the scope one, scope two, and limited-scope three greenhouse gas emissions associated with our game and with everything around hosting these events throughout the calendar year,鈥� said Mitchell. The three scopes look at an organization鈥檚 emissions from both direct and indirect sources.

Mitchell explained that this was a complex undertaking because no one had previously assembled and calculated a similar carbon inventory. It meant manually gathering and analyzing data from across all its venues. While painstaking, this first step was critical and powerful: it established a baseline for the League that helped them refine their goals and strategy.

After the League issued its second sustainability report in 2018, it became clear that there was an opportunity to modernize the data collection and processing by using a modern technology platform. 鈥淲e needed an innovative platform that could help us streamline that data collection, make it easier for all stakeholders to be able to input that data, and to visualize and process it — so that there are meaningful insights that our Clubs and venue partners could act on.鈥�

That was the impetus for the NHL to co-innovate with 麻豆原创 on a new digital platform to gather and process this data from all Clubs, now called . The organizations had successfully collaborated to develop the 麻豆原创-NHL Coaching Insights mobile app, based on (麻豆原创 BTP), which delivers real-time player and game data to coaches. Based on this joint success, the League again turned to 麻豆原创 to tackle this new challenge.

The 2014 sustainability report showed that 70% of the NHL鈥檚 carbon emissions came from its venues鈥� energy consumption. The data and analytic capabilities within 麻豆原创 BTP have helped the NHL start to generate insights from the data with the goal to turn it into concrete actions that can reduce the organization鈥檚 carbon footprint.

NHL Venue Metrics has also started to improve access to data for Club and League stakeholders; finding time to analyze the data to drive sustainability decisions can be challenging. With the data collected by NHL Venue Metrics, the League will be able to help individual operators identify meaningful investments or upgrades that will help them decarbonize.

For example, Mitchell described the process of replacing older, energy-intensive lightbulbs with LED lights. As some venues started to install new LED lights, the NHL was able to track energy reduction. Not only did the new lights improve venues鈥� energy impact, but they also created a better broadcast experience for television viewers. As Mitchell explains, these improvements have benefited both the environment and the business.

Moving forward, NHL Venue Metrics will help open up new opportunities for the NHL — and its Clubs and venues — to embed sustainable practices into their operations. Driven by 麻豆原创 BTP, this solution makes it easier to share knowledge and create best practices across the organization about which new technologies, products, and services can help lower emissions. And even more important: it can help to engage fans by providing transparency into how their Clubs are improving sustainability, as well as ultimately how they can contribute to the success of NHL Green.

鈥淭he millions of fans who watch our sport can be positively impacted by the League鈥檚 efforts and, hopefully, embed sustainability into their lifestyle,鈥� said Mitchell. 鈥淭hat’s where we’re going to have a network effect that’s going to move the needle positively in our climate fight.鈥�

Now that鈥檚 a hat trick: one where technology helps the business, environment, and fans鈥� experience.

To find more episodes of the 鈥淏etter Together: Customer Conversations鈥� series, visit .

Ragunath Ramanathan is chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform.

麻豆原创 is now the second-fastest growing cloud company, having successfully moved thousands of customers to the cloud over the past several years as part of the company鈥檚 strategic transformation.

鈥淥ur customers want flexibility, reliability, and security from 麻豆原创, but they also want sustainability,鈥� said Scott Russell, member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE, Customer Success. 鈥淥ur RISE with 麻豆原创 and GROW with 麻豆原创 solutions help customers move to cloud data centers, which play a significant role in helping them achieve their net-zero targets and deliver more sustainable practices throughout their business processes.鈥�

麻豆原创 and other cloud providers are increasingly investing in building and operating green data centers. Green data centers prioritize sustainability, aiming to minimize environmental impact and carbon footprints. To minimize the negative environmental impact, 麻豆原创-owned data centers run with 100% renewable electricity. The company achieves a 鈥済reen cloud鈥� by investing in high-quality, EKO energy-certified energy attribute certificates (EACs) to support renewable energy generation. These facilities incorporate energy-efficient design principles, use renewable energy sources, and employ eco-friendly cooling methods.

Moving 麻豆原创鈥檚 data centers to more energy efficient cloud computing is a key part of our own carbon emissions management. 麻豆原创鈥檚 net-zero commitment goes far beyond 麻豆原创鈥檚 internal data center usage. 麻豆原创 aims to reduce or ensure renewable electricity for all cloud computing usage by customers, including partner hyperscaler data centers running 麻豆原创 solutions. Even when RISE with 麻豆原创 and GROW with 麻豆原创 customers opt to use hyperscalers, the partner data center鈥檚 emissions relating to 麻豆原创 customer usage is accounted for in 麻豆原创鈥檚 own scope 3 emissions reporting.

Cloud computing, whether in an 麻豆原创 data center or a partner hyperscaler data center, offers several sustainability advantages over traditional on-premise computing. There are many ways cloud computing contributes to net-zero strategies:

Energy Efficiency
Cloud service providers operate large-scale data centers that are optimized for energy efficiency. These data centers are designed with advanced cooling systems, efficient hardware, and virtualization techniques, which reduce energy consumption compared to individual, on-premise servers. Cloud providers can achieve economies of scale and consolidate computing resources, leading to more efficient energy usage.

Resource Utilization and Scalability
On-premise computing often results in underutilized servers, as organizations typically focus their infrastructure to handle peak workloads. This leads to a significant amount of idle computing capacity during periods of low demand. Cloud computing allows organizations to dynamically scale their computing resources based on demand. Instead of overprovisioning on-premise infrastructure to accommodate future growth, businesses can easily scale up or down in the cloud. This scalability feature eliminates the need for excessive hardware purchases and allows efficient resource allocation, minimizing the environmental impact.

Shared Infrastructure
Cloud computing allows multiple users to share the same infrastructure, reducing the overall number of physical servers required. This shared model optimizes resource utilization, decreases hardware manufacturing demands, and lowers energy consumption and electronic waste generation.

Data Center Location
Some cloud providers strategically select data center locations based on factors such as access to renewable energy, cooling efficiency, and local climate conditions. They aim to place data centers in regions with lower electricity costs and higher availability of renewable energy, optimizing their operations for energy efficiency.

Direct Renewable Energy Purchases
Hyperscalers are increasingly signing long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy providers. These agreements ensure a stable and predictable supply of renewable energy at competitive prices. By directly purchasing renewable energy, companies can reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and support the growth of renewable energy projects. They often invest in wind, solar, and hydroelectric power plants.

On-Site Renewable Energy Generation
Some cloud providers are building renewable energy infrastructure on-site. They construct solar arrays, wind farms, or other renewable energy facilities near their data centers to generate electricity. These on-site renewable energy projects enable the companies to have greater control over their energy supply and reduce transmission losses associated with transporting energy from remote locations.

Energy Attribute Certificates and Carbon Offsets
Cloud providers may purchase energy attribute certificates or carbon offsets. EACs represent the environmental attributes of renewable energy generation and can be bought to match the company’s electricity consumption. Carbon offsets, on the other hand, allow companies to invest in projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions to compensate for their own carbon footprint.

Grid Integration and Renewable Energy Contracts
Some cloud providers collaborate with local power grids and governments to support the development of renewable energy infrastructure. They enter into contracts that incentivize the grid operators to increase the share of renewable energy in their overall energy mix. This collaboration promotes the growth of renewable energy in the local region and enables the hyperscalers to access cleaner energy sources.

Innovation and Research
Cloud providers invest in research and development initiatives to explore new technologies and methods for renewable energy integration. They actively participate in collaborations and partnerships with academia, government agencies, and other industry players to drive innovation in renewable energy storage, management, and utilization. These efforts aim to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and overcome the challenges associated with its scalability.

Collaboration and Remote Work
Cloud computing facilitates remote collaboration and remote work, reducing the need for employees to commute as frequently to physical offices. This leads to a decrease in carbon emissions associated with transportation.

Large cloud computing companies are reducing their carbon footprints and contributing to net-zero programs around the world. RISE with 麻豆原创 and GROW with 麻豆原创 have strong momentum in helping move 麻豆原创 customers to the cloud and helping both 麻豆原创 and customers achieve ambitious climate action goals.

Michael McComb is global head of Sustainability Communications at 麻豆原创.

Carbon accounting is still undertaken manually or using semi-automated tools that rely on estimates or averages. Additionally, many more organizations still need to set targets. To move forward, they must first ascertain current emissions levels. But with supply chain emissions representing a much higher proportion than direct emissions, this is proving challenging for four key reasons: a lack of data, poor or unreliable data, a skills gap preventing effective data analysis, and issues exchanging data.

Organizations must account for carbon, not only for climate and compliance reasons but to aid decision-making, reveal opportunities for efficiencies and growth, and differentiate their business. As a result, organizations across industries are racing to slash the carbon footprint of their products and services. As businesses at every level of the value chain ramp up their own decarbonization efforts, business leaders know the lowest carbon offerings are likely to become the most desirable and hence the best opportunity for growth and profit.

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A Lack of Emissions Data

Emissions data is used in three areas of a company鈥檚 net-zero strategy: to measure and identify hotspots for emissions reduction; to make improvements such as selecting suppliers and redesigning products and processes; and to continuously anticipate business outcomes and identify new opportunities for greenhouse gas reduction.

For successful decarbonization, emissions data must be embedded in an organization鈥檚 decision-making process. Incomplete and unreliable data hinders the creation of an effective net-zero strategy. This issue is particularly prevalent across the value chain in scope 3 emissions, which regularly account for 75% of a company鈥檚 emissions across all sectors. Due to a lack of influence and control and an absence of disclosure rules, supply chain emissions go vastly underreported, weakening net-zero strategies.

It is essential for companies to close the gap and gather data on all scope 3 emissions. Not doing so leaves them open to allegations of greenwashing and non-compliance penalties as policymakers worldwide move increasingly towards making scope 3 emissions reporting mandatory.

Poor Quality Data

Data that is accurate, granular, and comparable is indispensable for a comprehensive understanding of an organization鈥檚 carbon footprint. However, much of the data being relied upon is spend-based, estimated, or reliant on regional or sector-based averages as opposed to primary data directly from a business鈥檚 operations and suppliers.

By its nature, secondary data cannot provide an accurate indication of a company鈥檚 greenhouse gas emission hotspots, nor can it be used for comparison purposes. It also lacks granularity, impairing decision-making. Relying on inconsistent data carries potentially significant risks, which can lead to a decline in trust and credibility.

Sustainability Skills Gap

The number of green jobs grew by 8% between 2015 and 2021 and is expected to continue to increase. But there is a significant skills shortage, and candidates don鈥檛 yet have the competencies to be able to fulfill the roles. Short courses and micro-credentials run by universities, professional bodies, and NGOs are helping to fill the gap, but on-the-job training and upskilling are also necessary to equip employees and business leaders with the necessary skills to be able to interpret the data and turn pledges into progress.

Data Exchange Issues

Carbon accounting challenges within a single organization are an issue, but the problem is multiplied when it comes to achieving carbon transparency between companies in a given value chain. Incompatibility of data, inconsistencies in carbon accounting rules, software platforms that don鈥檛 easily interact, and a lack of collaboration across supply chains leave business leaders fumbling in the dark for information.

The automobile industry is an obvious example. With 98% of emissions falling into scope 3, exchanging carbon footprint data can seem like an impossible task due to its complex supply chain, a lack of trust between suppliers and customers, a scarcity of quality data, inconsistent carbon accounting methodologies, and incompatible data management platforms.

The Impact of Carbon Accounting Challenges

The aforementioned challenges result in wasted time and resources, compromised decision-making, an inability to affect meaningful emissions reduction, missed opportunities, a lack of transparency, and higher exposure to business risks, not to mention the global risks of deadly heat waves, devastating floods, rising sea levels, and a decline in biodiversity.

Moving Towards a Green Ledger

What if sustainability performance could be managed with the same rigor as financial performance? Where it becomes as effortless as financial transactions in your enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, where a carbon network makes data exchange easy, and where end-to-end carbon accounting tracks product emissions across the entire value chain?

Ledger-based transactional carbon accounting provides all of this and more 鈥� and it鈥檚 not new. It is an amalgamation of a suite of solutions, an ecosystem of platforms. Working together, they have the power and interactivity to collect and assimilate emissions data using a hybrid approach to help businesses transition from estimated or average emissions values to actual and verified data. A double entry approach allows companies to balance emission in- and outflows.

A sustainability ledger provides auditable carbon reports and attaches emissions to financial costs and revenue. This provides companies with the capability to analyze carbon emission hotspots through a financial lens across cost centers, profit centers, and market segments.

Finding the Key to Collaboration in the Automotive Industry

Perhaps most importantly, the sustainability ledger approach provides a platform for collaboration and integration of data throughout an entire value chain. The is the first open and collaborative data ecosystem capable of allowing companies to work together to establish transparent processes and common data standards from material acquisition to manufacturing and distribution to meet sustainability and regulatory requirements.

By partnering with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Catena-X was able to achieve a standardized carbon footprint value that could be used throughout the supply chain.

Thanks to the , companies can manage this standardized product carbon footprint data and share it easily, on a material level, between business partners in an efficient and secure way.

Other Industries Incorporating the Green Ledger

The automotive industry isn鈥檛 alone in identifying a need for a more scientific and collaborative approach. Other industries, including manufacturing and healthcare, are moving towards a more holistic green ledger solution.

Multinational chemical and consumer goods company Henkel has recently implemented while simultaneously transitioning to the cloud. will benefit along its entire value chain from increased data-driven, real-time decision-making and leaner and more sustainable processes.

The Next Steps

Plugging the gaps and improving the quality of emissions data is a clear priority to turn an organization鈥檚 carbon reduction targets into actionable plans, but collaboration must not be underestimated if a real reduction is to be achieved across industries. Companies now need to identify the best software solution for their business that will not only collate emissions data on a transactional basis but also report it holistically and provide the possibility to share it throughout the supply chain.

Find out more about .

Heather Davies is a sustainability communications brand journalist at 麻豆原创.

One of the key allies to keep the oceans healthy are whales. Whales are highly intelligent and social sea mammals. Some live in big families where there are brothers and sisters, grandparents that educate the juveniles, and parents that protect their young ones with the utmost care. All of them play an important role in maintaining the oceans鈥� resiliency.

important nutrients for phytoplankton, which are microscopic organisms doing the crucial job of absorbing CO2 and producing oxygen. In other words, where there are more whales, there is more phytoplankton and, therefore, more CO2 sequestration. During their lifetime of about 40 to 60 years and also at the end of their lives, whales help to absorb a large amount of CO2. Their bodies take up to to the seafloor when they die, where it gets locked up for a long time.

Just as marine life depends on healthy oceans, so do businesses, like tourism, fishery, maritime equipment production and repair, ports, supply chains, and the jobs generated by these industries that provide many individuals with an essential income. Even the whale-watching business grew to over per year. But that wasn鈥檛 always the case. Whales were heavily hunted, driving many whale species close to extinction.

With the Help of Technology, the Future of Our Big Allies Changed

In the 1960s, the songs of humpback whales . With recordings from the U.S. Navy hydrophone network and the later visualization of what鈥檚 recorded, the structured melodies of humpback whales were revealed. When some of these recordings became public, people started to understand that whales are very intelligent. Movements to protect the animals started, laying the foundation for some whale populations to be able to slowly recover over the years.

Today, whales face new human-made challenges. Among them are ship strikes, noise, and plastic pollution, as well as entanglements. Our marine friends in the oceans need more help.

Technology Can Help Change the Tide

Having accurate data available at the right time is crucial for businesses when it comes to eliminating waste, like plastics, from their products and processes. Abandoned or lost fishing gear, for example, is often made of plastics, staying in the oceans for hundreds of years and continuing to catch marine life. Entanglements are a big threat to marine animals, including large whales.

Consumers鈥� and businesses鈥� awareness of the overall plastic problem 鈥� 8 million tons that reach the ocean every year 鈥� has increased. A data-driven strategy helps businesses to understand the usage and implications of virgin plastic. Having information about other options at the right time in the process allows businesses to catch the problem at the source and or move to reuse schemes. Data insights with the help of technology, such as , allow businesses to make the right decisions and move to a circular economy, protecting biodiversity and reducing the of carbon emissions coming from producing products we consume and then waste.

Boosted by the increased emissions of human-made CO2 in the atmosphere, the warming climate heats the oceans, making them more acidic and putting the habitat and food sources of many marine lives, including whales, at risk.

With climate change at the top of the list of the most pressing challenges of our time, businesses are moving towards net-zero targets. They need the facts from high-quality data in every business transaction throughout their entire value chain to accurately set targets and make decisions. They need data they can trust. So, it鈥檚 time to move from averages to actuals. And it is time to redefine the 鈥淩鈥� in ERP (enterprise resource planning) to include sustainability data, starting with carbon. With the move towards transactional carbon accounting, businesses can reach net zero, so our generation can reach the target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Insights from innovative and intelligent technologies help make the right decisions and take the right actions. Technology will continue to reinvent how we can keep nature as our ally and build a sustainable and livable planet. When we again think of whales, sensors could help to locate lost fishnets, so they can be collected and taken out of the waters. With innovation in technologies, ship traffic can, for example, become as to not disrupt the communication and orientation of whales. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help ships’ crews detect whales early, so the vessel鈥檚 speed can be reduced or rerouted to protect the animals and allow the whales to continue to help keep the oceans healthy and provide their climate action services to us.

needs collaboration. To set the required regulations with governments, innovative, smaller companies and NGOs can help find new ways to address climate action, protect biodiversity, and clean up what we left behind. Companies from every industry must work together to reinvent business models and processes with the help of technology to achieve net-zero and sustainable businesses.

鈥淭here have always been regulations, rules, and expectations on how companies operate in order to make sure there isn鈥檛 a negative impact on the environment,鈥� says Michael Censurato, global solution manager for at 麻豆原创. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 changed in the last couple of years is that there鈥檚 a lot more focus and scrutiny. It鈥檚 in the news. It鈥檚 on consumers鈥� minds. It鈥檚 on investors鈥� minds.鈥�

A by the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment found that in 2022 climate change was the top environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issue, in asset-weighted terms, for money managers and institutional investors alike. 麻豆原创鈥檚 own research shows that, between 2021 and 2022, the importance of customer demand as a motivator for sustainable action increased sevenfold.

Joining the Green Vanguard

While executives now consider ESG initiatives integral to the future success of their businesses, they鈥檙e also acutely aware of the difficulty in measuring the progress of these initiatives and of translating their successes to regulators. In research conducted by Oxford Economics and 麻豆原创, had established policies for working with regulators to ensure the implementation of sustainable practices. For businesses of all sizes, the risks and costs of non-compliance are high 鈥� ranging from penalties and fines to suspended operations, loss of business, and even personal liability on the part of executives.

Among the most significant difficulties in ESG reporting is ensuring that environmental metrics are both transparent and accurate 鈥� reflecting actual values, rather than averages. In many organizations, environmental compliance strategies have historically required a highly manual effort, relying on spreadsheets and weeks of data aggregation and processing across multiple time zones and working structures, often leading to oversights and delays.

Finding a solution that offers a better route towards ESG reporting and compliance is a critical step in the broader business strategies and outcomes of teams big and small. As the imperative to establish a carbon-neutral bottom line becomes stronger than ever, those companies that are able to meet these challenges will emerge as market leaders.

End-to-End Environmental Management

Since 2003, 麻豆原创鈥檚 EHS team has been helping enterprises comply with environmental regulations through a range of solutions, including 麻豆原创 Environment, Health, and Safety Management. This application can provide the consistency, auditability, risk reduction, and transparency that companies require. It can also supply environmental managers and technicians with an easily navigable platform, helping to unlock in-depth insight into their operation鈥檚 environmental impact.

Powered by 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, 麻豆原创 EHS Management helps support teams throughout the process of aggregating, preparing, and analyzing their environmental data. The application鈥檚 advanced capabilities can also allow for early detection of deviations from target emissions values 鈥� so that if, for example, carcinogenic compounds released during a particular production process exceed their environmental limit, a plan can be instantly put into action, giving teams plenty of time to adjust and remain compliant.

The Emissions Declaration Challenge

Within the broader category of EHS compliance, emissions declarations in particular are notorious for the time and diligence they require. Companies based in Germany, for example, must file detailed reports every four years for the BImSchV ordinance on emissions declarations, while European companies at large must file annually for The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). There are more regulations on the way: earlier this year, the International Finance Reporting Standard鈥檚 (IFRS) International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) the development of a standardized language for disclosing ESG-related risks and opportunities. The new criteria will come online in January 2024.

And for companies in heavy-emitting industries, such as chemical, oil and gas, or steel and iron production, the diversity of emissions that need to be recorded and included in these declarations range from the dust and exhaust released during the transportation and processing of raw materials to passive emissions such as fuel tank venting. As a result, the extent of the reporting itself 鈥� and the challenge of remaining compliant 鈥� is immense, particularly for global operations operating across jurisdictions.

In the past, the burden of these emission reports fell on the shoulders of environmental and operations managers, who have had to struggle with the inefficiencies built into the highly manual procedure of gathering, calculating, and reporting the necessary information, all within a strict timeline.

Reporting Made Easy

Addressing this bottleneck, the new 麻豆原创 Fiori app “My Emissions Declarations” is designed not only to help fast-track the creation and completion of emissions declarations but also to help establish a governed backbone to the process itself. My Emissions Declarations is currently designed specifically for the filing requirements of the BImSchV ordinance, but additional filing procedures, triggered by legal requirements, will soon be featured as part of the app’s offering.

The My Emissions Declarations app helps emissions reporting stay on track from the very beginning of the process. Plant managers are in charge of ensuring that the required reports are started and filed on time. When plant managers need to initiate a declaration, the app sends a notification directly to the manager鈥檚 e-mail and automatically creates a task on the homepage.

Once the task has been successfully opened, the plant manager can hand over responsibility to others, like plant operators or environmental technicians, who will typically take charge of entering all necessary data into the app for each emissions source. The flexibility of the My Emissions Declarations app can support automatic data collection, by way of sensors, meters, operational systems, and data historians.

After data has been entered, the app takes the lead, running the complex calculations required to generate accurate emissions data. 鈥淲ithin the app, the respective experts are able to simply input the minimum information required by the calculation formula,鈥� explains Mariya Krasteva, area product owner for 麻豆原创 EHS Management. 鈥淭hen, as soon as the concentration of a specific emitted substance is entered, all other parameters are calculated automatically.鈥� Whereas some solutions store these equations in a database or in the software coding, making them difficult to validate and edit, the My Emissions Declarations app allows end users to easily view, edit, and maintain these equations all within the platform.

Crucially, My Emissions Declarations can also enable plant managers to quickly validate the data鈥檚 accuracy, helping to ensure its quality throughout the process. And, with seamless integration to 麻豆原创 EHS Management as a whole 鈥� and by extension, to the 麻豆原创 S/4HANA digital core 鈥� the app can allow teams to establish a holistic understanding of their operation鈥檚 footprint. After all, enterprise-wide sustainability management does not exist in a vacuum. Companies must juggle a wealth of other compliance, monitoring, and maintenance procedures. In many operations, compliance processes overlap with plant maintenance because the manufacturing equipment also needs to be maintained and monitored for any pollutants it produces.

鈥淥ur solutions help to tie these pieces together, making the handoff to other processes much more seamless,鈥� explains Hitesh Patel, product manager for 麻豆原创 EHS Management. Integrating the My Emissions Declarations app into the broader management system helps teams utilize company data previously defined in the software鈥檚 asset management feature, creating a comprehensive view of emissions sources 鈥� including scope 3 emissions, such as those related to facilities and assets. By calculating actual emission amounts, rather than averages, teams are now able to make even more accurate, data-driven decisions.

鈥淭he bottom line is that this is out-of-the-box compliance and an end-to-end solution, which allows auditability at anytime,鈥� says Krasteva. 鈥淥ne precise emissions inventory, one source of truth.鈥� And when, ultimately, the plant manager is ready to prepare the declaration itself, the app generates an XML report, which it can then directly submit to the relevant authorities before closing the task until next time.

Taking the Lead

Maintaining efficiency and diligence in compliance procedures is an indispensable step for companies looking to chart a more sustainable future for themselves and their industries. 麻豆原创 EHS Management, as well as My Emissions Declaration, can give teams crucial support in charting that future and in reaching the sustainability goals and benchmarks that will help them get there.

about how 麻豆原创 can guide your team in this journey today.

Sami Emory is a brand journalist for Sustainability Communications at 麻豆原创.

Pioneers in Circular Solutions

The German giant recently relaunched its brand to reflect its strategic vision to become the leader in circular economy solutions, hence the circular logo with a triad of people, steel, and technology in the center. Three elements 鈥� circular mindset, pioneering partnerships, and sustainability solutions 鈥� are needed to bring the strategy to life.

鈥淥ur mission is to transform the industry, so we can produce steel without emitting CO2,鈥� says Gunnar Groebler, CEO and chairman of the Executive Board of Salzgitter AG. 鈥淐urrently, about two tons of CO2 are emitted per ton of steel produced in the traditional way. We aim to replace coal with hydrogen, reducing emissions to virtually zero. We鈥檒l be delivering green steel as of 2025.鈥�

Steel is the world’s most important engineering and construction material. It is used in every aspect of our lives, from cars and cargo ships to surgical scalpels and spoons. It鈥檚 also one of the most sustainable materials because it can be recycled endlessly.

Salzgitter AG is in the process of redefining its business model, moving from the linear approach to a circular one that reduces, reuses, and recycles energy and materials 鈥� and, most importantly, continuously rethinks the process.

True circularity requires joint product lifecycle planning and holistic processes in full collaboration with partners and suppliers across the entire value chain. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been in a classic relationship with our customers, which ends when the product is handed over. We鈥檙e working with them to take back the products after use, so we can reuse them or reintroduce the material into the production cycle,鈥� Groebler explains.

Partnerships across the Value Chain

The company and its subsidiaries have been producing steel for over 150 years. Peiner Tr盲ger, for example, is already melting around 1 million tons of crude steel from steel scrap in one of its electric steelworks in an environmentally friendly and energy-efficient manner. Its high-quality products are a clear testimony that steel can be recycled without any loss of quality.

鈥淚 worked in the utilities industry for over 20 years, so I’ve witnessed the move from lignite, or soft coal, to offshore wind 鈥� a massive transformation. Seeing what was possible within a decade or so is highly motivating for me,鈥� says Groebler. 鈥淚 realize that by driving this transformation at Salzgitter AG, we are ultimately moving the entire industry to a more sustainable way of production.鈥�

He is amazed at how many companies are redefining their role from being customers to partners.

鈥淲e鈥檙e all transforming together,鈥� he explains. 鈥淥ur customers need to fulfill their own targets. Take the automotive industry: not only do they have to decarbonize the vehicle itself, but they also decarbonize its use throughout its lifetime. Considering that steel is a prominent part of the vehicle, our automotive partners expect us to decarbonize steel.鈥�

Groebler thinks a lot about the expectations of society. Today, Salzgitter AG emits roughly 1% of the German CO2 footprint, about 8 million tons per year. The good thing is that most of it is generated in one spot, making it easier to manage reduction efforts, versus the effort that goes into reducing emissions generated by combustion engines in cars, which are all over the place. With the strategy and funding already in place, Groebler is confident Salzgitter AG can reach net zero in the next 10 years.

Sustainability Tools and Solutions

Groebler is also very mindful of how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are impacting brand reputation. Sustainable business practices play a major role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and conserving resources, and companies that actively pursue them benefit from increased trust and loyalty among customers and consumers, creating opportunities for improved market share.

鈥淚f you consider the way ESG is developing, we need to look at environmental data in the same way we look at financial data. We鈥檙e experts in steel production, but not in handling data,鈥� says Groebler. 鈥淭his is where 麻豆原创 comes into play. 麻豆原创 helps us really consolidate the in an easy way.鈥�

Salzgitter Group is achieving greater ESG transparency with the data analytics and business logic functionality in . Along with and , the company uses to gain deeper insight into its environmental data and maintain safe and sustainable operations.

There have been some highly visible changes since Salzgitter Group embarked on its journey to circularity. Six massive wind power turbines, each 150 meters high, have reshaped the skyline over the steelworks. A lot of development is happening behind the scenes. Hydrogen production will not take place exclusively on-site, so the biggest challenge is sourcing it from other locations and creating the necessary infrastructure. During the transitional phase, the company will use a mixture of natural gas and hydrogen before switching exclusively to hydrogen.

Groebler is highly optimistic: 鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing a sweeping cultural change within the Salzgitter Group. Employees are engaging proactively, from an employee cooperative to finance a photovoltaic system to our local tree-planting campaign 鈥� our sustainable business approach has a positive, far-reaching impact everywhere in our organization.鈥�

Together with customers and suppliers, technology partners like 麻豆原创, and its people, Salzgitter AG is clearly leading the way to a circular future.

For more information on how 麻豆原创 helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit听.

While these are encouraging signs from a sustainability perspective, the primary step these companies must take to act on these commitments is to record and report on their carbon footprints, directly attributable to their operations and upstream and downstream supply chains. Understanding Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon footprints with increased confidence helps take action to prioritize decarbonization initiatives and report improvements. This improves regulatory compliance and signals to customers and other stakeholders that companies are authentically walking the talk.

The European Union鈥檚 (CBAM) imposes a carbon tax on importers to prevent carbon leakage and support the decarbonization of the EU industry. Companies that are importing products must buy carbon certificates equivalent to the carbon price they would have paid if these products were otherwise produced in compliance with EU carbon pricing rules. Importers will thus be required to determine each product’s total carbon dioxide emissions to calculate the equivalent carbon certificates they need to purchase or to choose the right supplier to meet their sustainable goals.

Companies are on the quest to track carbon emissions in various categories such as purchased goods and services, upstream and downstream transportation and distribution, use of sold products, processing of sold products, and end-of-life treatment of sold products. Tracking and accounting for emissions in some of these categories are complex.

, a cloud-native solution built on , enables enterprises to calculate and analyze their carbon footprint, using master data from their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, product, value chain, and at a corporate level following the Greenhouse Gas Protocol鈥檚 Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The solution helps companies meet their sustainability commitments by working to improve the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of emissions calculations and management. It can also integrate with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, connect an ERP system via public APIs available in 麻豆原创 Business Accelerator Hub, and import data from an external source by uploading a file. The calculated footprints can be embedded into 麻豆原创 S/4HANA to extend end-to-end business processes with sustainability data.

Most companies currently use estimated data to calculate their carbon emissions. 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management provides a holistic assessment of emissions by using a hybrid approach where average or secondary emission data from life cycle assessment (LCA) databases and actual or primary data from suppliers and verified business data are combined and managed in an integrated environment while allowing for greater actual data input over time. This helps companies to track and manage product-specific emissions and choose product- and value chain-specific elements.

While Scope 1 and 2 emissions are traceable, transparency around Scope 3 emissions presents a difficult challenge for companies. For many companies, Scope 3 emissions account for 90% of overall emissions. In addition to Scope 1 and 2 emissions, 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management can also measure Scope 3 emissions from purchased materials as well as upstream and downstream transport. 麻豆原创 aims to enhance the solution to count all 15 Scope 3 emissions in the coming releases. Analyzing the carbon footprints of purchased materials and goods helps identify and prioritize sustainable suppliers, and companies can also explore alternative materials to reduce carbon emissions.

, one of the largest steel producers in Europe, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Volkswagen group to start production of low carbon dioxide steel from the end of 2025. Salzgitter AG is using to assess CO2 footprints in the new production process.

Fifty years ago, 麻豆原创 revolutionized financial accounting with ERP software. Today, 麻豆原创 is reinventing the 鈥淩鈥� in ERP by extending the definition of resources beyond financial and goods flows, offering a precision approach to sustainability by enabling transactional carbon accounting through a green ledger. This enables combined financial and environmental decision-making at different points across the business process. The green ledger offers deep insights by being embedded into RISE with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud and the GROW with 麻豆原创 solution, with additional capabilities added with every release.

Climate change is a collective problem that requires collective efforts. While 麻豆原创 is committed to achieving net zero along our value chain by 2030, 麻豆原创 is also enabling businesses with the data visibility and analytic insights needed to act on decarbonization initiatives across value chains. Together, we can enable a future with zero emissions.

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However, carbon accounting is still done mainly using spreadsheets and semi-automated tools that use estimates and averages for carbon footprints. Only 9% of companies have a comprehensive view of their greenhouse gas emissions and their impact across the entire value chain.

This is no longer enough. We need to account for carbon with much more precision and control by using actual data values across our business operations and supply chains in sync with financial flows. We need to redefine 鈥渞esource鈥� in enterprise resource planning (ERP) and extend our understanding of resources beyond financials. 麻豆原创 now brings a precision-approach to do just that by enabling transactional accounting for carbon.

Introducing Future-Proof Solutions for Transactional Carbon Accounting

麻豆原创鈥檚 approach to transactional carbon accounting comprises three future-proof capabilities.

First is , a single solution to calculate and manage carbon flows with high granularity on company, process, and product levels across Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. The solution integrates capabilities from previously released 麻豆原创 solutions and adds new functionalities, such as the ability to manage a greater scope of emissions sources and support for a broader range of industry-specific requirements. Using 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management helps provide a seamless integration with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, allowing for a strong data foundation to calculate footprints directly from individual transactions at each step of production. Companies can reduce their climate risk and make progress towards their climate commitments by better adhering to and reporting on rapidly changing standards. They can also achieve operational excellence by dramatically improving the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of emissions calculations and management. 麻豆原创 Sustainability Footprint Management will be available from June 2023.

Second, 麻豆原创 offers , a new application designed to securely exchange standardized sustainability data, including product footprints, along the value chain. The application allows precision accuracy by gathering actual carbon data directly from suppliers. 麻豆原创 Sustainability Data Exchange, part of , uses the carbon data interoperability standards established by the , hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The beta version is available and will be generally available in Q3 2023.

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Third, 麻豆原创 also introduces the green ledger concept, which combines financial and environmental data to enable deep insights and effective decision-making at different points across the business process. Green ledger will be embedded into and for and will deliver new capabilities with each release. The next major update, for example, offers a new way to embed carbon data, starting with most impactful scope categories, into product-level costing.

Using these three powerful capabilities that , executives can have a future-proof tool kit to help manage and reduce their carbon footprints. The 麻豆原创 solutions record data based on actuals instead of averages to increase data transparency, accuracy, and reliability. The high-quality carbon data, like the financial data, is auditable, transparent, and reliable. To take climate action, companies sync the emissions data with financial data to make granular, accurate, and right-time decisions that are both financially and environmentally sound.

Acting on Carbon Emissions Data

麻豆原创鈥檚 carbon accounting solutions allow business decision-makers to not only see emissions on an operations level, but also at the product level by including carbon footprints alongside financial data to make trade-offs between cost efficiency and carbon intensity. To make these assessments, carbon footprints need to be available at a granular level and at the point where the business decision is made.

In the automotive industry, for example, the sources of steel, rubber, batteries, and electrical components are key elements of the carbon footprint of an electric car manufacturer鈥檚 product. 麻豆原创 solutions provide the foundational data for these purchased materials and components, as well as consumed energy and other inputs, and combine it with additional data sources such as life cycle assessment databases.

Using the input data, the footprint is calculated by matching source data with emission factors. Like in financial accounting, the inflows and outflows of materials, components, and products are traced and accounted for with a high level of transparency and auditability.

This isn鈥檛 accounting for accounting鈥檚 sake. This level of data transparency helps teams across the business, from the C-suite to supply chain management to marketing, take sustainability action. They can make decisions together on both cost and carbon emissions that are rarely made in parallel today. Based on both cost and carbon values, the car manufacturer can scenario plan and make fully informed decisions about how to drive optimal financial and sustainability performance.

Bringing a Holistic View to Sustainable Business

To truly run sustainably and decarbonize business at the speed and scale needed, companies must . By embedding sustainability data into their core business processes through their ERP, executives can achieve a holistic, enterprise-wide performance capability.

Based on the ERP backbone, sustainable business data is the foundation for setting regulatory-compliant KPIs and disclosing sustainability progress to a broad range of reporting frameworks using . This holistic view is vital to understanding where emissions are occurring, setting accurate net-zero targets, and identifying specific areas to take action for maximum decarbonization impact.听The are cloud-based, modular, and integrate with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud.

Peter Bakker, CEO of WBCSD, said accountants will save the world. He very well may be right. With over 50 years of experience in financial accounting, future-proof technology, and wide access to customer and partner ecosystems, 麻豆原创 is well-positioned deliver high-quality emissions accounting to rapidly scale business decarbonization.

Sebastian Steinhaeuser is chief strategy officer at 麻豆原创.

Up until now, nearly 1,800 companies, including 麻豆原创, have committed to becoming net zero across their value chains. These commitments aim to achieve an emissions state consistent with societal climate and sustainability goals and within the biophysical boundaries of the planet. At the beginning of 2022, 麻豆原创 committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030. The United Nations鈥� Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines net zero as that point when 鈥渁nthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified period.鈥� The Paris Agreement sets out the need to achieve this balance by 2050.

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A company鈥檚 net-zero emissions target is a climate action target in which a company aims to reduce its emissions to zero, on a net basis. The term 鈥渘et鈥� comes from the view that most companies will not be able to operate without emitting at least some greenhouse gases, so they will need to remove their unavoidable residual emissions from the atmosphere to get to net zero.

Getting to net zero is not easy or straightforward. Questions remain on how companies develop their net-zero emissions targets and ensure their decarbonization strategies track to ambitious pathways. Challenges exist, such as inconsistently defined net-zero targets, what emission sources and activities should be included, timelines to achieve the goals, and how companies plan to achieve their target.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is one of the leading global initiatives that helps companies set ambitious emission reduction targets and credible decarbonization strategies. The SBTi鈥檚 Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the world鈥檚 first framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. It includes the guidance, criteria, and recommendations companies need to set science-based net-zero targets consistent with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5掳C above pre-industrial levels.

The scope of science-based targets for net zero is broad, encompassing all relevant greenhouse gas emissions across a company’s value chain, including direct emissions from operations (Scope 1), emissions from purchased energy (Scope 2), and indirect emissions from upstream and downstream sources such as business travel, employee commuting, purchased goods and services, or products in use (Scope 3).

This SBTi framework includes a set of criteria that companies must meet to ensure that their targets are scientifically robust and credible. These criteria include:

• Complete an emission inventory following the GHG Protocol.
• Set near- and long-term science-based targets to reduce value chain emissions.
• Implement a strategy to achieve science-based targets.
• Disclose target progress annually.

To claim to have reached net zero, companies must neutralize the impact of emissions that remain unabated in the long-term net-zero target year. Examples of such counterbalancing activities include purchasing carbon credits that support programs that prevent deforestation or support reforestation or investing in carbon-dioxide removal (CDR) technologies such as direct air capture (DAC) with permanent geological carbon storage. The SBTi allows a maximum of 10% removals for a long-term net-zero target and does not allow the traditional use of offsets anymore, except to achieve short-term targets as an interim transition step. Consequently, the Net-Zero Standards expects companies to radically reduce emissions by 90% by no later than 2050.

To set a science-based target for net-zero, a company must first conduct a detailed assessment of its greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, including identifying emissions sources and determining the extent of its emissions across its value chain. Based on this assessment, the company can set an ambitious, measurable emissions reduction target consistent with the Paris Agreement’s goals and aligned with the best available science. Beyond the assessment, companies then need to set ambitious targets and actionable strategies, both near- and long-term to reduce value chain emissions.

鈥淲e are currently assessing our net-zero reduction pathway and corresponding reduction strategies across a number of areas of the 麻豆原创 business to meet the demanding requirements of the SBTi,鈥� said Lilli-Jane Popp, sustainability specialist at 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e want to continually use the highest standards and use the latest science in setting targets and developing our plans to achieve net zero by 2030.鈥�

Scope 3 emissions are challenging to reduce yet they are where most emissions occur in a company鈥檚 value chain. They are the indirect greenhouse gas emissions that occur outside of operations, like emissions produced by suppliers and customers when using the company鈥檚 products. These emissions are considered difficult to account for because they depend on a complex network of suppliers, customers, and other stakeholders. Accounting for Scope 3 emissions requires a deep understanding of a company’s value chain, a commitment to collecting and analyzing data, and collaboration with suppliers and other stakeholders.

Delivering and disclosing progress on their decarbonization targets helps companies reduce their environmental impact, improve their reputation and brand value, and attract environmentally conscious consumers and investors. Also, by setting science-based targets, companies can ensure that they are prepared for the transition to a low-carbon economy and avoid the risks associated with climate change, such as regulatory changes, reputational damage, and physical impacts.

However, achieving net-zero targets to limit global warming to 1.5掳C will require significant effort and investments from companies and strong collaboration across sectors. But it is essential for ensuring a sustainable and livable future. According to the latest IPCC report, we have already reached 1.1掳C of warming above pre-industrial levels. We are living in a decisive decade for climate action with our planet warming at an unprecedented pace. Companies must align with the most ambitious, credible, and robust frameworks, like the SBTi, to reach global net zero by 2050 at the latest.

Michael McComb is global head of Sustainability Communications at 麻豆原创.

A decade ago, when electric vehicles were still a buzzword in the market, 麻豆原创 Labs India launched a Green Car policy. Launched in 2011, the policy offered a subsidy for employees purchasing electric vehicles. Employees were provided charging stations across the Bengaluru campus along with convenient parking spaces.

In 2014, 麻豆原创 Labs India took the first major step in implementing the use of EVs by transitioning to electric-powered cabs for employees working in shifts. In 2022, 95% of the fleet used for employees working on shifts were electric vehicles. Approximately 4,000 employees use the shift shuttle services every month. 鈥淭he goal is to transition to a 95% green commute by the end of 2023. This includes using both electric vehicles and vehicles running on compressed natural gas (CNG) for all modes of transport provided across all lines of businesses in all 麻豆原创 Labs India entities,鈥� said Sudhakar Reddy, head of Intelligent Operations at 麻豆原创 Labs India.

Today, the 麻豆原创 Labs India Bengaluru campus houses 65 EV charging stations. In addition to powering the in-house cabs, these slow, medium, and fast chargers also encourage employees to make responsible choices and thereby help create a cleaner environment. 麻豆原创 Labs India also purchased a new self-driving electric vehicle with official sustainability branding for all internal cab services, including cabs for guests and expats.

In addition to the above initiatives, 麻豆原创 Labs India has partnered with , a micro-mobility solution that provides sustainable first- and last-mile connectivity for 麻豆原创 employees who rely on public transportation. , a leading Indian electric vehicle manufacturer and 麻豆原创 customer, provides additional discounts to employees of 麻豆原创 Labs India. 麻豆原创 Labs India worked with Ather Energy on a three-day drive at the Bengaluru campus where employees got first-hand experience test driving electric scooters. The initiative aimed to spread awareness among 麻豆原创 employees about the use of electric vehicles. Ather will be conducting this drive across other 麻豆原创 Labs India campuses as well.

In February, the Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz visited the 麻豆原创 Labs India Bengaluru campus. During the visit, the chancellor experienced demonstrations across various fields such as digitalization, sustainability, digital supply chain, and e-mobility. An engaging, live, end-to-end demo of the solution was also presented to the delegates.

麻豆原创 E-Mobility can enable companies and governments to manage charging infrastructure networks to drive the transition to sustainable electric mobility. Srinivasa Raghavachar, senior director and head of Automotive Industry Cloud Product Management at 麻豆原创 Labs India, said, 鈥淲e firmly believe that our solution plays a vital role in decarbonizing the transport sector and creating a cleaner and more sustainable future for everyone.鈥�

The electric vehicle revolution will have an overall positive influence on our society. Embracing this revolution will not only help us mitigate the current environmental crisis but will also stimulate future-focused technological innovations.

鈥淥rganizations are struggling to forecast energy costs in a volatile market and understand the impact of new trends such as e-mobility on operations and finance,鈥� said Catherine Garcera, global head of Sustainability, Services Industry at 麻豆原创. 鈥淭hey need resilience against the current energy crisis and the ability to grow and generate profits while meeting corporate sustainability goals.鈥�

Step 1: Power Up Energy Savings with Digital Twins

Lowering energy consumption and operating costs begins with a thorough understanding of an organization鈥檚 energy data. Leading-edge companies are using digital twins to capture and analyze real-time energy usage data including electricity, natural gas, and renewables. That鈥檚 the purpose behind Flexinergy, an energy management software platform developed by , an 麻豆原创 partner. The platform creates a digital version of an organization鈥檚 energy contracts and usage, allowing the customer to pre-calculate the bill. Information can include distribution costs across subsidiaries, taxes, size and location of facilities, occupancy rates, external temperatures, and more. This helps customers catch invoice mistakes, evaluate energy efficiency, and reduce consumption.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not unusual to find discrepancies between what the bill should be and the provider鈥檚 actual invoice,鈥� said Erwin Guizouarn, CEO and founder of Evolution Energie. 鈥淐ustomers also use our software to better forecast energy costs in case of price fluctuations, new contracts, or supply chain disruptions.鈥�

Guizouarn said that customers can be overcharged up to 5% on an annual basis due to billing errors. As for cost reductions, one large airport saved 17% in energy consumption.

Real-time data became particularly important for organizations during the recent energy crisis. Guizouarn said that customers can explore what-if scenarios, factoring in changeable energy prices and other parameters like lower carbon emission fuels, revised contract terms, or hedging to lower risk in case of energy price fluctuations. Ongoing alerts notify decision-makers of deviations to the plan, say if energy prices climb higher than expected, helping companies adjust strategies as needed.

Evolution Energie first began working with 麻豆原创 through its participation in the Green Tech and Sustainability cohort of , the company鈥檚 global B2B accelerator. With shared business-to-business target markets, both companies are proving the incredible power of connected data.

鈥淢erging energy-related data with financial information from your system and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information from , you can see the impact on profitability and emissions objectives,鈥� said Garcera. 鈥淵ou can adjust operations by day, week, or even season to gain efficiencies that could increase profits while meeting sustainability commitments.鈥�

Step 2: Transition to Green Energy

Moving to green energy is another step that energy-intensive companies can take to achieve ambitious decarbonization targets. Some customers are increasingly focused on purchasing renewable energy, as well as producing green energy and investing in green assets. Here, too, a digital twin can help companies capture energy usage and resultant costs while tracking CO2 emissions from electricity, biomass, hydrogen, and other renewable sources.

鈥淵ou can balance your green energy strategies against the cost of new contracts and greenhouse gas emission targets,鈥� said Garcera. 鈥淚n addition, companies need to ensure the provenance of the green energy they consume for accurate reporting against corporate sustainability objectives, supporting the brand鈥檚 image and building trust with customers and investors.鈥�

Step 3: Realistically Explore New Energy Trends

While the vision is to consume as much green energy as possible, organizations are tempering sustainable business plans with reality. Some industries like aviation aren鈥檛 ready for full decarbonization; there鈥檚 limited availability of sustainable aviation fuel and it will take significant efforts to revamp complex infrastructure. In any case, organizations require energy strategies that combine finance, risk management, and sustainability.

鈥淔ast-moving energy prices on top of changing sustainability regulations mean that companies have to continually monitor costs to find more efficiencies, and prove compliance with corporate commitments and industry regulations,鈥� said Garcera. 鈥淭he more you can accurately anticipate disruptions, the better you can make decisions to adapt for business resilience.鈥�

Green Market Revolution Fueled by Informed Data

Connected data is foundational to managing energy consumption and costs. analysts predicted that by 2025, 75% of large cities and communities will form industry ecosystems with IT, architectural, engineering, and real estate firms to share data, applications, and expertise to address ESG issues. With zero-emission mandates moving apace, researchers advised organizations to continuously follow the price and performance and capability improvements in renewable energy systems and also 鈥渨ork with supply chain partners to improve procurement efficiencies.鈥� As unpredictable as the next crisis may be, organizations can stay grounded with accurate data to build a resilient future.

Susan Galer is a communications director at 麻豆原创. Follow me @smgaler.

鈥淎lthough remanufacturing has been an industry norm, the difference now is its direct connection to meeting sustainability objectives at scale,鈥� said Georg Kube, global vice president and head of Industrial Manufacturing at 麻豆原创. 鈥淥rganizations can gain faster near-term value from bringing back existing products and reusing them for innovations that help achieve net-zero and net-neutral goals across the .鈥�

In a recent , respondents from industrial manufacturing and high tech industries said that results from their circular economy initiatives included better brand reputation (80%), increased innovation (79%), and enhanced regulatory compliance (78%).

Circular Economy Meets Sustainable Business Imperatives

Circular manufacturing has taken on new urgency. Material shortages are pushing costs higher. Easily disrupted supply chains add to challenges, where a single roadblock in one corner of the world cascades with massive negative impact on production elsewhere. At the same time, given increasing regulations, manufacturers have to calculate whether the energy consumption for one-time-use goods is profitable. Remanufacturing can help companies reduce the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Scope 1, 2, and especially 3 emissions that make up a significant percentage of carbon debt in their products. Localized remanufacturing is even more environmentally friendly.

鈥淚f manufacturers could harvest recyclable materials from locally sold and used consumer goods instead of dumping them in landfills, their customers become their suppliers for a fundamental change in supply chain dynamics,鈥� said Kube. 鈥淐ircular economy is a powerful way for manufacturers to demonstrate how they are committed to the environment and aligned with customers likelier to buy sustainably built products.鈥�

Kube added that some organizations are generating a strong revenue stream from remanufacturing their own products and selling those same services to other companies. Manufacturers are also moving factories closer to remanufacturing locations, reducing emissions from shipping and logistics.

Remanufactured Supply Chains Coalesce Around Sustainability

For heavy equipment manufacturers that typically have large portfolios, the circular economy involves prioritizing which machines and components make sense to reuse based on actual product value and carbon emissions saved. Calculations include the cost of materials, components, and production, along with depreciation and lifetime energy usage. Manufacturers that buy back certain products from their distributors can disassemble the returned machines, clean up designated high-value parts, and upgrade the component鈥檚 capabilities for reuse in advanced releases.

鈥淭he goal isn鈥檛 to try and remanufacture every single product in your portfolio,鈥� said Kube. 鈥淵ou want to remanufacture only those items with significant carbon savings and economic value, opening up possibilities for cost-effective innovation while complying with sustainability mandates and addressing customer expectations. Suppose you get back a second-generation pump. Its core has the highest value and most carbon emissions. You can take it apart and replace one chip in the motherboard to add a feature like remote control, transforming the product into the next generation.鈥�

Business Sustainability Is Built on Data Sharing

Despite legal edicts and consumer-led clout, sustainable business practices deep in the industrial manufacturing supply chain aren鈥檛 a given. Once a manufacturer has decided which parts make the most sense for reuse, customers still need incentives to return the product; maybe the payment for returns exceeds the dumping costs. Managing the logistics to identify, inspect, and take back products will require trailblazing industry collaboration.

鈥淎s products are sorted between scrap and remanufacturing, the manufacturer needs accurate data that captures the flow of materials and financial information,鈥� said Kube. 鈥淲e are innovating with solutions like , as well as , to securely connect data within an organization and across trusted ecosystems. The circular economy will depend on a network of enterprises moving in sync towards a sustainable planet.鈥�

Long before and after they touch our lives, products have a direct and indirect impact on the environment. Just reporting carbon emissions won鈥檛 make industries like farming, construction, energy, and automotive sustainable. Remanufacturing will tighten and shorten the loop between first-time product usage and reuse that reduces waste and increases profits, powering the circular economy.

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One company with extensive expertise in ESG reporting is , the world鈥檚 largest brewer. The company鈥檚 strategy for growth through the digitization of its ecosystem 鈥� which includes 200 breweries, 6 million customers, and over 2 billion consumers, generating over 10 million weekly transactions 鈥� involves a lot of data.

The Right Data

鈥淏rewing requires the best ingredients, which requires a healthy environment. We are an agribusiness. We see the far-reaching implications of climate change in our operations and sourcing regions,鈥� said Ezgi Barcenas, chief sustainability officer, Anheuser-Busch InBev. 鈥淲ith operations in over 50 countries, we鈥檙e looking at many metrics. Just inside our walls, we have 400 operating practices for tracking efficiency, water, energy, maintenance, and sourcing, to name a few.鈥�

Barcenas explained that as the company looks at its supply chain, it must think through the environmental and social impact up- and downstream, from the smallholder farmers down to the half million SMEs that are its customers selling its products around the world, all the mom-and-pop shops as well as the big chains.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of data,鈥� she said. 鈥淣ow add all your research and innovation data, security data, and ideas about the future of packaging and logistics. The point is, sometimes you need better data, not more. You need to ask yourself: is this data useful for making decisions? Does it help drive the right actions through the business?”

Another data-heavy company participating in the discussion was Schneider Electric SE, a French multinational specializing in听digital automation and energy management for buildings, data centers, infrastructure, and industries. By 2025, thanks to its energy and sustainability services and green product innovations, it will have and avoid 800 million tons of CO2.

鈥淲e need to triple our speed to avert climate disaster. Reporting scope 3 emissions is extremely important, because we can only track what we measure and we can only improve if we measure,鈥� said Michael Lofty, senior vice president, Power Products, Schneider Electric. The good news is that about 70% of Schneider Electric鈥檚 revenue already comes from green solutions. The company invests heavily in innovation. 鈥淎ny innovation coming from Schneider Electric is a sustainable offer,鈥� he explained. 鈥淓ach product is more sustainable than the one before it, and metrics are key proof points.鈥�

At Schneider Electric, the main challenge was to get suppliers on board the sustainability journey. The company launched a Zero Carbon Project to help 1,000 suppliers responsible for 70% of its upstream carbon emissions become more sustainable. 鈥淭his is a movement and it鈥檚 a must-have movement, because we are only as strong as our smallest supplier,鈥� said Lofty. The project aims to quantify supplier emissions to establish a baseline and identify key sources of emissions. This enables data-driven prioritization of intervention and road map creation.

ESG Reporting

Most people assume that ESG investing is designed to reward companies helping the planet. According to a by the Harvard Business Review, however, ESG ratings that underlie ESG fund selection are based on materiality, an accounting principle stating that all items likely to impact investors鈥� decision-making must be recorded in detail in a business鈥檚 financial statements using听.

Some businesses are already linking materiality to their own fortunes and that of the planet. A revealed that a significant minority of respondents say sustainability is already financially material to their businesses and a larger group believes it will be imminent in the near future. Companies like Anheuser-Busch IN Bev and Schneider Electric are finding ways to make that link pay off with the help of data.

鈥淥ne change we鈥檝e seen over the last few years is that investors have a better understanding of which data is material to the business, and they ask more questions around it,鈥� said Barcenas. 鈥淲e鈥檙e increasingly trying to provide more context around our data.鈥�

Providing accurate data is the only way to really demonstrate the impact of the changing world on a company鈥檚 profits and losses. Having one global framework and mandatory reporting would certainly help address the data challenge, but that won鈥檛 happen in the near future.

鈥淲e still need to progress on some of the standards and regulations before we can make them mandatory,鈥� said Gunther Rothermel, senior vice president, head of Sustainability Engineering, 麻豆原创. 鈥淲e need to look at the common denominator underlying the regulations and cover that level first, and then grow this common denominator as the regulations mature and become accepted.鈥�

Companies like 麻豆原创, he said, with products that also need to meet standards, will, at least for now, have to serve numerous frameworks. In the meantime, 麻豆原创 solutions help organizations of all sizes and industries achieve their zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality goals through ESG data transparency across crucial business processes, business networking, and a large ecosystem of partners.鈥�

鈥淲e believe that embedding sustainability at the core of business strategy can help drive operational efficiency, innovation, employee engagement, supply chain resilience, risk mitigation, improved sales, and other strategic business benefits,鈥� said Rothermel.

Having the right data proof points will help companies better understand the return on their sustainability investment (ROSI) and the materiality underlying investor decision-making, resulting in shareholder returns and long-term benefits to the environment and society.

For more information on how 麻豆原创 helps companies record, report, and act on their sustainability goals, visit .

While the Trilogy jeans company doesn鈥檛 exist, its digital transformation depicted in life-size 3D and physical displays was very real and incredibly inspirational. Dazzling in scope, yet simple in pragmatic ease of innovation, a series of interactive and immersive displays demonstrated how Trilogy designed and delivered sustainable pink denim jeans in record time after one pair became a sensation on TikTok.

鈥淟eaders at consumer products companies know that sustainability is good for the environment and more regulations are coming,鈥� said Robin Wilson, retail industry executive advisor at 麻豆原创. 鈥淥n top of those drivers, customers want sustainably produced, personalized products, which represent the next wave of innovation in many industries, including products like jeans and other clothing.鈥�

Satisfying Consumer Demand for Sustainable Products

Similar to most heritage companies, Trilogy had struggled with slowed sales, fractured supply chains, and a stale product mix. Delivering authentic, sustainable fashion for eco-conscious influencers and tastemakers while remaining profitable was its central challenge. True, companies have been producing sustainable garments, but higher costs have relegated some items to niche markets. Even as consumer willingness to pay more has increased along with regulatory mandates, organizations need to profitably embed sustainability into products, starting with planning and design.

Wilson, who guided me through the showcase, said that consumer product manufacturers like Trilogy initially ask if it makes sense to design a sustainable item, or think of something different. For example, the on-site display of pink- and blue-colored jeans revealed three ways to develop denim sustainably: nanobubbles use air instead of water for softer, wrinkle-resistant jeans, ozone treatments replace toxic chemicals but provide that faded color that fashionistas celebrate, and laser technology provides a custom fit minus dangerous blasting or sanding techniques.

鈥淒enim undergoes a lot of water rinsing processes for softness and wrinkle-resistance,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淲e have customers that have created their own laser process to reduce the amount of water that goes into their denim products. And, when consumers can understand the environmental footprint of each jeans鈥� design because they can see what materials are used and how they鈥檙e produced, they know exactly what they鈥檙e buying.鈥�

Consumers Want Sustainable Convenience

Building a more sustainable business is only possible with connected information to act on, from early consumer demand signals to on-time product delivery. based on help companies quickly attract both fashion-forward consumers and fast followers.

鈥淎nalytics from integrated data tell companies which consumers are interested in certain products, how often they鈥檝e purchased these products, and how likely they are to buy similar items again,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淧roduct managers can explore if this is a consumer segment to consider developing a personalized offering in a smaller run, collecting feedback from them before potential expansion to a wider market. They can provide a on the Web site and develop campaigns to educate additional consumer target groups, expanding market share.鈥�

Collected securely and with the customer鈥檚 permission, helps companies anticipate what people want. Standing in front of colorful screens and physical robotics that automatically guided sustainable jean production encompassing material choices, manufacturing locations, production lines, and transportation options, I could see the dynamic dance of data between finance, supply chain, and marketing to deliver the omnichannel customer experience.

Business Network Sources Sustainable Suppliers

Once Trilogy teams decided on product designs, they turned to their to source raw materials. Among the questions were: Do I have vendors in my network that can provide nontraditional materials like seaweed or synthetic spider webs (both were displayed with jeans in glass cases)? And are those vendors sourcing materials from sustainable suppliers, including treatment of direct and indirect employees?

鈥淩esponsible design takes into account every aspect of that garment such as the type and amount of material and other design elements along with supplier sustainability beyond the first tier of partners,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淚ncreasingly, consumer products organizations are planning ahead to reduce product components that end up in landfills and factor in at the outset of design. For example, through and 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, companies can capture all the data from the bill of materials to track milestones like water saved and lower carbon emissions.鈥�

Managing the full life cycle of a pair of sustainably manufactured jeans goes further than the many tiers of a company鈥檚 supply chain. Companies also need to have employees with the right skills sets to develop products that consumers want and compliance exigencies demand. Production facilities have to turn on a dime as disruptions occur. It鈥檚 often said that we can only act on what we can measure. By acting on connected data, organizations can deliver the proverbial pink denim jeans of anyone鈥檚 dreams.

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It鈥檚 an ambitious goal that requires all companies to account for and disclose their carbon emissions. In 2022, the question is no longer if a company needs to do something; it鈥檚 how they can get started. Their role has drastically changed from observer to contributor.

Carbon accounting solutions that help companies measure how much carbon dioxide they emit are already available. But there鈥檚 another problem that currently isn鈥檛 addressed, and it鈥檚 much harder to solve: how can companies even obtain the data on their direct and indirect carbon emissions?

Referred to as听, a company鈥檚 carbon footprint is complex. To measure it, companies currently turn to publicly available catalogs such as听听or the听. These databases list certain types of materials and activities and match them against an average amount of carbon emissions being emitted.

鈥淲hile these catalogs provide an initial estimate of a company鈥檚 carbon footprint, they don鈥檛 reflect the individual status quo accurately,鈥� said Marcus Krug, head of 麻豆原创 Innovation Center Potsdam. 鈥淎s regulatory requirements across different regions are increasing, so is the need for companies to have accurate and verifiable numbers on their carbon footprint in their financial statements.鈥� In addition, many companies are evaluating new business models based on accurate and trustworthy sustainability data.

With big brands like听听and听听going green and integrating sustainable practices in their operations, reliable and verifiable numbers to back up these claims are essential to avoid a reputational and financial crisis. Solving this issue requires a standardized approach to calculate emissions from a variety of systems from different vendors and share them through the entire supply chain 鈥� from suppliers via shippers and manufacturers to retailers. It doesn鈥檛 stop at a company鈥檚 own border.

鈥淐ollaboration and data sharing are the orders of the day for companies when it comes to measuring and managing their carbon footprint,鈥� said Gunther Rothermel, senior vice president and head of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Sustainability at 麻豆原创.

He and his team identify opportunities to expand the 麻豆原创 product portfolio to include new focus areas such as climate action, circular economy, or holistic steering and reporting.

鈥淎chieving sustainable business practices means embedding sustainable practices across processes, end-to-end,鈥� said Rothermel.

Solve Problems Collaboratively

Working with industry alliances like the听听(WBCSD) and听听as well as other software vendors,听听is developing an interoperable carbon data network to allow customers to share their carbon emission data while preserving data sovereignty and preventing any vendor lock-in. Based on self-sovereign identity (SSI), this data foundation aims to help calculate a company鈥檚 carbon emissions so it can reduce or offset them.

鈥淯sing open standards was essential to get different vendors behind this project and excited to participate,鈥� said Krug. 鈥淛udging from the positive customer feedback so far, this open, interoperable, and decentralized network seems to fill an important gap. No one really wants to build costly, non-standardized, point-to-point integrations across the entire supply chain.鈥�

For companies, measuring their indirect Scope 3 emissions 鈥� the greenhouse gases emitted along their supply chains and in the use of their products 鈥� is particularly challenging.

鈥淲e know from our customers that managing Scope 3 carbon emissions and having impact at scale is a major challenge for them,鈥� said Jesper Schleimann, chief strategy and innovation officer for the EMEA North region at 麻豆原创. 鈥淭heir openness in sharing details and requirements have been crucial in designing an open solution with positive benefits for all stakeholders across the value chain and ensuring a successful adoption across the globe.鈥�

Building on the foundation for collaboration laid by听, the carbon data network can provide value by tracking a product鈥檚 footprint from sourcing to the end consumer, for instance. With many different parties involved across the globe, the supply chain is usually complex and opaque.

For example, a fashion retailer sources garments from a textile manufacturer in India, which are shipped to Europe by a shipping company. The end consumer would like to know the overall carbon footprint of the garment they buy. Calculating this footprint depends on multiple factors, including the Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions of the textile manufacturer, the shipping-by-ocean freight, the transport to the retail store, and potentially other intermediary parties.

In this difficult undertaking, the carbon data network can provide the needed transparency across all participants of the network.

Prioritize Access Over Ownership

For the past decades, proprietary solutions have shaped the enterprise software space. But as the world faces one of the biggest challenges, many companies have come to realize that certain issues can only be solved together. To be prepared for the future, a new layer of cross-company business collaboration is needed.

Decentralized approaches such as the carbon data network are open by nature and provide the technical foundation needed to share data across company borders and allow collaboration, for instance in supply chain or sustainable financing. It could also be used to improve the distribution, demand, and supply of water resources within an ecosystem.

鈥淲e are steering the market towards a more sustainable future, and we鈥檙e doing it collaboratively,鈥� said Krug. 鈥淭he decentralized network approach reflects the natural evolution of our business networks.鈥�

Corinna Schmidt is part of NVT Marketing & Communications at 麻豆原创.
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These metrics must be embedded within a company鈥檚 core operations and services; traditional annual reports are no longer sufficient. Stakeholders want to understand how a company addresses areas such as climate action, with transparency on transition and adaptation plans based on the carbon footprint of its operations. They also want to understand progress on circular economy objectives by monitoring the reuse and recycling of materials. They want to track and advance people sustainability initiatives by gathering key performance indicators (KPIs) in areas such as diversity and inclusion.

麻豆原创鈥檚 product innovations work across the enterprise to deliver on these goals.

Holistic Sustainability Management with 麻豆原创 Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises

To manage the green line, companies need business process technology to identify, quantify, analyze, and act on data through their end-to-end operations. To enable this, brings together a comprehensive portfolio of solutions to holistically manage sustainability performance. Embedding sustainable business data into processes and networks is one of the five actions business can take toward a sustainable future.

麻豆原创 Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises includes the and solutions. It also covers existing products like the application and the . The solution provides an overview of sustainability impacts and performance against green objectives.

We continue to extend the capabilities of 麻豆原创 Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises. As many companies are accelerating their action for decarbonization, our new capabilities in this area are important.

Driving Carbon Data Transparency Is More Important Than Ever

Accounting for carbon emissions across the organization and its supply chain is a foundational step toward climate action. Businesses are actively looking to reduce their carbon footprints, which requires addressing emissions outside company walls. These emissions 鈥� Scope 3 emissions 鈥� include everything from goods purchased to business travel to packaging and transportation of raw materials. Scope 3 emissions make up a significant portion of overall emissions for our customers. To derive actionable insights to reduce organizational carbon footprint, it is crucial to measure Scope 3 emissions both at a corporate level and at a product level.

are on average 11.4 times higher than operational emissions. To reduce these emissions, it is important to engage across the sectoral value chain, with both suppliers and end customers, especially for customer-facing sectors like retail and consumer product goods (CPG), which have long upstream value chains. Companies can address significantly larger emission volumes by driving deeper engagement throughout their supply chains.

Earlier this year, called on registrants to report on not just their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions but also their Scope 3 emissions. This is not the first time companies have faced this request. Previously, asked companies to disclose the targets they used to assess and manage relevant climate-related risks and opportunities. IFRS takes this approach further with , which focus on transition planning, climate resilience, reporting on Scope 1-2-3 emissions, and disclosure of sustainability-related financial information as a part of its general purpose financial reporting.

Enabling 麻豆原创 Customers to Exchange Carbon Data across Value Chains

To develop and execute an effective decarbonization plan, companies need to receive and process high-quality product-level data on carbon emissions from suppliers and provide high-quality product footprint information to their customers.

However, with most supply chains spanning several industry sectors and consisting of multiple, heterogeneous networks and software components, taking a standardized approach to data sharing is critical. To collect meaningful emissions information, it is important that all parties use the same methodology and common standards for calculating and auditing the carbon footprint of a product.

Therefore, 麻豆原创 Product Footprint Management implements an API specification developed as part of . 麻豆原创 customers can now take informed sourcing and product-development decisions, invest in targeted decarbonization activities, make more accurate disclosures, measure and track decarbonization progress, and adhere to legislative requirements around environmental transparency.

We intend to use 麻豆原创 Product Footprint Management as part of 麻豆原创 networks 鈥� for example, in the Catena-X Automotive Network (Catena-X) 鈥� to enable a standard-based, secure, and cross-company-wide data exchange throughout the value chain.

In addition, there is the option to use the GreenToken by 麻豆原创 solution for multi-tier visibility across the networks. The combination of 麻豆原创 Product Footprint Management, 麻豆原创 Responsible Design and Production, and GreenToken forms a potent decarbonization value proposition for industries such as consumer goods, as 麻豆原创 can demonstrably address material traceability, packaging waste, and supplier-specific carbon data transparency throughout the value chain for both recycled content and land-use change.

New functionality created through our co-development partnership with BearingPoint is already embedded into 麻豆原创 Product Footprint Management and helps customers identify carbon reduction potential. Customers can thus determine the carbon footprint of a single product based on both direct and indirect emissions sources and upstream activities, building on existing functionality of carbon footprint measurement of purchased goods with tracking emissions resulting from transportation of those goods. Both these greenhouse gas (GHG) emission categories combined significantly contribute to a customer鈥檚 upstream and downstream environmental impact.

Integrating and Embedding Sustainable Data across the Intelligent Enterprise, Scaling Carbon Impact

Through open APIs, 麻豆原创 customers can easily exchange data with their enterprise applications, feeding it into 麻豆原创 Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises, and then provide the calculated sustainability data back into both 麻豆原创 and third-party applications.

With the newly introduced sustainability integration components for 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, customers can benefit from preconfigured functionality enabling reuse of sustainability data across processes supported by 麻豆原创 S/4HANA, such as record-to-report, lead-to-cash, source-to-pay, and plan-to-fulfill workflows. The component allows a bidirectional flow of information between 麻豆原创 Cloud for Sustainable Enterprises and 麻豆原创 S/4HANA in real time.

Examples include:

• In 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Sourcing and Procurement, customers can make sustainable purchase decisions based on a material鈥檚 carbon footprint displayed in purchase requisition, which is then is fed back into 麻豆原创 Product Footprint Management, keeping sustainability reporting updated.
• In听麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning, the supply chain planner can access a comprehensive overview of GHG emissions based on the supply plan for the next 12 months. Planners can dive deeper into the details and try to resolve critical situations and alerts. .
• In 麻豆原创 Logistics Business Network, the material traceability option helps customers gain further insights into sustainability figures of products and share carbon footprint data on the batch level with suppliers, customers, and end consumers of the products. This feature is available with the 2021 release of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA. .
• In plant maintenance, customers can receive automatic updates from 麻豆原创 Environment, Health, and Safety Management, triggering corrective action if GHG emissions are exceeded. .
• In 麻豆原创 Enterprise Product Development with 麻豆原创 Responsible Design and Production, customers will be able to reduce packaging and other material waste by design while simulating for a lower carbon footprint. Packaging is typically a significant source of Scope 3 carbon emissions in consumer goods value chains.

We continue to innovate and aim to help customers track emissions data from 鈥渃radle to gate鈥� 鈥� from the delivery of raw materials to the moment finished products leave the production line, offering intelligent technologies to calculate, exchange, and track carbon footprint information in a trusted way.

Achieving this carbon transparency will pave the way to becoming an intelligent, sustainable enterprise.

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Sharing sustainability data across your enterprise can help you run more sustainably; . Join the to stay up-to-date with news and announcements about our growing portfolio of sustainability solutions. In addition, check out past and current .

Gunther Rothermel is head of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Sustainability Management at 麻豆原创.
Anita Varshney is global vice president of Strategy for 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Sustainability at 麻豆原创.

This was one of the nuggets Gavin Starks, founder of , shared during a recent , hosted by Tom Raftery, global vice president, futurist, and innovation evangelist at 麻豆原创. Read on to find out what Starks thinks companies should do to deliver on their net-zero commitments.

Decentralize Data, but Maintain Control

Icebreaker One had its genesis in the Open Banking Standard that Starks helped develop in the UK, allowing financial institutions, government regulators, startups, and others to share data easily. He envisioned bringing the same large-scale data interoperability to sectors involved with achieving net-zero commitments.

鈥淲e spent a couple of years talking to hundreds of people and, whether it was someone from a hedge fund, insurance company, engineering firm, or elsewhere, the conclusion was that we just need all the data,鈥� said Starks. 鈥淗owever, the natural response from countries, big organizations, or multinationals is to build a Big Data portal and put all the data in one place. That doesn’t work.鈥�

Instead, Starks launched Icebreaker One as a decentralized, secure way to share net-zero data across markets and the public and private sector, supporting benchmarking, progress metrics, and compliance reporting.

鈥淭he blueprint we got from open banking is to leave the data where it is. Then when it鈥檚 needed, provide consent within a tightly controlled process so that your risks and controls are managed,鈥� said Starks. 鈥淲e want to bring together the legal components, the business units, the regulators, and so on. If we construct this in a way that’s very repeatable, we can connect people rather than collecting all the data.鈥�

Define Relevant Data: Is This Decision-Worthy?

Starks was the first to admit that measuring and reducing CO2 emissions requires sharing across vastly diverse, distributed, and decentralized networks of information. He said that Icebreaker One is building out use cases, incorporating the entire data value chain, including customers and supply chain partners. Working out details such as liability, dispute resolution, and inter-organizational relationships will be painstaking, but worthwhile.

鈥淩ather than talking about real-time data, we talk about relevant time data, meaning what’s decision-relevant data. As we layer this together with other information, we鈥檙e looking at the full scope of data required for material impact,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’re trying to unlock a web of net-zero data. And that connects financial information, engineering information, and environmental data to help inform net-zero decisions.鈥�

Measure the Impact to Realize the Net-Zero Vision

Starks advocates a multi-dimensional approach that brings government and industries together, sharing actionable information. In other words, let the data show how you鈥檒l deliver a low carbon future.

鈥淲e’d love to see information flows about the demonstrable net zero at the design stage, the construction stage, the operational stage, and the decommissioning stage of infrastructure projects so the information can flow to people who need it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his includes people in the financial community who need to make investment decisions, the engineers who need to know what works, and the policymakers who need to help unblock things that are in the way and amplify things that will accelerate that change.鈥�

Three Net-Zero Questions to Ask

After attending COP26 last year, Starks was concerned but fired up to move ahead with the next climate change strategies.

鈥淭he levers of change have to be a combination of government and policy, large companies, and the investment community driving that change,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he action for consumers and for citizens is to ask your pension provider, your bank, your insurance company, what is their net-zero strategy? And how are they going to prove it? The third question is how your chief executive鈥檚 remuneration is tied to delivering that target.鈥�

Trusted Data Strategy of the Future: Connect, Don鈥檛 Collect

As net-zero demands grow, Starks advised people to resist 鈥渘atural corporate antibodies鈥� against data sharing and open up the exchange of information. He also called for systemic yet realistic thinking to transform risk modeling and business behaviors for short- and long-term progress aligned with net-zero commitments.

鈥淭he richest companies on earth have made their money by connecting data. And through those connections, their data increases in value,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou need a dose of realism鈥here are structural changes that will happen, but you also have to demonstrate the business value along the way.鈥�

No doubt one of the major challenges for sustainable business will be cultural, replacing age-old competitive conventions with practices grounded in the collective good. With the right policies and technology, we can surface and share the data that will help save our future.

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By 2050, according to听, green hydrogen could supply up to 25% of the world鈥檚 energy needs and become a 鈧�13 trillion (US$15 trillion) market. But until we get there, current challenges of storing and transporting hydrogen need to be overcome first.

Not All Hydrogen Is Created Equal

In the long run, only CO2-free hydrogen produced with the help of renewable energies is sustainable. However, it will be quite a while before there is enough green hydrogen to meet the growing demand. The reason: there is not enough green electricity. Of the many alternative production methods, the most popular today is blue or grey hydrogen produced from natural gas.

In the future, many industrial processes will use green or blue hydrogen or downstream products made from it, such as ammonia and methanol. Hydrogen can particularly help clean up emission-intensive industries like transportation, chemical iron, and steel production, which account for about 7% of global CO2 emissions each year. But the high number of potential users contrasts with the limited availability and high production costs of hydrogen.

Cross-Company Alliances to Accelerate the Value Chain

In line with the听听to reduce emissions at least 55% by 2030 and make Europe climate-neutral by 2050, governments have adopted similar sustainability goals and consider hydrogen a critical component to reach them. Companies are also taking action to support green and digital transformations in the EU. For instance, the听听was founded by 12 executives from leading European companies to develop concrete recommendations for action and help companies undergo the green transition. This alliance is driven by the conviction that no company will solve the greatest challenges of our time alone. To succeed, companies need to collaborate across value chains, build partnerships, and work together with governments and academia.

One project that has emerged from these cross-company efforts is looking at how to accelerate the complete value chain of green hydrogen 鈥� from production, transport, storage, and sale, to the energy customer. Instead of operating in silos, these market segments need to be linked together.

A Data-Sharing Platform as the Single Source of Truth

The first prototype of a green hydrogen platform based on听听looks promising. The platform combines data from all participants of the hydrogen value chain and, therefore, enables better data-driven business decisions. Instead of managing complicated spreadsheets, an energy provider can use the platform as their single source of truth to run simulations and calculate how much energy they can produce, how much they want to sell to the electrolyzer, and how much power they need for vehicles, households, and industries.

For such platforms to be successful, visibility across the value chain of green hydrogen is a prerequisite. Supply chain solution听听helps companies to track hydrogen across the entire supply chain, from production to energy customer, via electrolyzers and carriers using blockchain technology. The solution is designed to provide auditable proof of what percentage of the hydrogen is green, blue, or grey. GreenToken can also be used to track听听that are caused when hydrogen is imported from far away. Companies can leverage the data to prove that their purchased hydrogen is truly green. They can also see how much CO2 has been created during the journey from production origin to customer site and, therefore, how much they would need to offset to make the hydrogen 100% green again.

Klaus Schimmer is chief innovation architect of Sustainability at 麻豆原创.
The article was initially published on the .

As a frontrunner in the sustainability movement, 麻豆原创 has a crucial role to play as an exemplar 鈥� such as committing to become carbon neutral by 2023 鈥� as well as in helping businesses unlock their potential growth. This is possible through optimizing circular business models with practical and scalable 麻豆原创 solutions such as , which enables companies to account for greenhouse gas emissions in their end-to-end business processes. While 麻豆原创鈥檚 focus is on innovations that help customers become more sustainable, we as individuals should lead by example by taking steps that lead to a more sustainable living, such as using alternative modes of transportation or reducing single-use plastics.

Following the vision of a , businesses and individuals are advised to set the focus on repurposing and reusing materials, following a cycle of make, use, return, and reuse.

Achieving circular business models requires completely rethinking supply and value chains across industries to create end-to-end transparency. In the quest to turn waste into value, 麻豆原创 developed , a solution that can improve visibility into resources across value chains, helping companies understand, control, and manage their impact on the environment. For example, it is estimated that the fashion industry is responsible for , and, according to UNFCCC, the sector鈥檚 emissions are to if transformation towards a sustainable fashion industry fails to materialize soon.

A great use case where the 麻豆原创 Rural Sourcing Management solution helps streamline the journey to a circular economy is through a sustainable network of businesses, connecting plastic waste collectors in Ghana with recycling companies, manufacturers, brands, and consumers of fashion. In Africa less than 20% of plastic waste is being recycled, while the European Union sets a target of 50% by 2025. Ghana has committed to turn this issue into an opportunity by creating a domestic recycling industry that creates jobs as well as supports a clean environment. In urban areas of countries such as Ghana, waste collecting is a means of survival. However, many urban dwellers have poor visibility into the market price of the collected materials, leaving them vulnerable to imposed pricing.

Through the implementation of , waste collectors in Ghana can directly connect to waste aggregators to receive a fair and transparent wage. The plastic resources are then handed over to the recycling companies to transform it into reusable resources. Being transported to different factories and manufacturers, plastic can be used in the production of fashion items. Using , full traceability can be achieved along the entire supply chain to help ensure expectations and standards for sustainable production and fair conditions are met.

To connect and manage the business operations steps within any fashion business, 麻豆原创 supports brands and retailers that want to capture and control the value of products after sale with recommerce. The aim is to enable and connect recommerce-specific business processes that include buying back, managing, and reselling pre-owned inventory, as well as tracking key financial, customer, and sustainability performance indicators. Any fashion brand can maintain visibility and control re-commerce business to fully capture the opportunities at stake 鈥� a profitable reselling business, positive environmental impact, customer acquisition, and expansion of the customer lifetime value.

麻豆原创 technology provides solutions that can transform serious environmental challenges, such as plastic waste, into integral parts of the circular economy. It can bring people and businesses with shared values together to jointly create a more sustainable value chain, where products are used, returned, reused, and given a new purpose.

Katrin Lehmann is head of Customer Innovation and Maintenance at 麻豆原创.