Softeq is participating in the Open Footprint Forum. We’re working on the standard for calculating GHG emissions alongside Shell, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, and IBM. This standard will unify the way businesses report their emissions, helping to improve green supply chain management.
Why Is It Important?
When businesses reduce GHG emissions, it’s not just an act of goodwill. Today, the amount of GHG a company produces affects their reputations and investors’ decisions. Companies can no longer ignore this topic. Under pressure from public opinion and the government, businesses are required to report their emissions. But first, they have to count them.
To do this, companies usually use the GHG protocol. This standard addresses the following types of emissions:
1. From sources that a company owns or controls
2. From the production of the energy that a company buys
3. From a company’s supply chain
However, this approach has one problem: it doesn’t provide a uniform calculation method. As a result, similar companies calculate their emissions differently and get different results. This hinders supply chain management, among other complications. When it comes to selecting suppliers, it’s almost impossible to compare their GHG performances. Also, since every supplier has their own method, businesses can’t calculate an end product’s emissions.
What’s the Solution?
The forum is working on a common method for calculating emissions. It will take into account the specifics of particular industries and companies. Having such a standard will help automate the calculation of GHG and enterprise systems will get a built-in feature to report GHG emissions.
How Is It Being Implemented?
Currently, the forum unites 78 participants from different industries, including oil and gas, aerospace, and technology. These include companies such as Shell, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, and IBM, to name a few. They all are grouped into teams according to their expertise.
Softeq is engaged in refining the data model and keeping it running. We will also help energy companies to adapt the data model. Once developed, the methodology will be available to all companies as open source.
Why Trust It?
EY, PWC, and Deloitte are participating in the forum as independent auditors. They are monitoring the transparency of the development process. Their task is to make sure that the new system equally represents the interests of all companies.
About the Organizer
The Open Group is a global consortium that develops open technology standards and provides certifications. It has over 840 members from a variety of industries, including technology suppliers and buyers, as well as government agencies.