Tiered Climate Responsibility Framework

What is the responsibility of companies for their suppliers' impacts? Supply chains are notoriously complex & opaque, and companies regularly explain they cannot influence the practices of suppliers hidden far away in their value chains.   Some companies have made the choice of externalising most of the production of the raw materials they rely on. Does that mean they should be held to lower standards? And that conversely, companies that have internalised everything should be held to higher standards?   That does not seem fair.   For instance a company (“ShopOnly”) only selling leather bags and with no manufacturing activity would be off the hook for all the impacts associated to the cattle husbandry required for the leather in the bags it sells. Whereas a vertically integrated company controlling all the steps (cattle feed production, livestock husbandry, slaughterhouse, tannery, leather work, shops…) would have to account for all the impacts.     💡 The approach usually adopted in the climate world is to require companies to account for most of their value chain impacts but categorise them into "Scopes", or value chain boundaries.   This does not fully answer the question of the responsibility of the company (it does not say whether the “ShopOnly” company, its suppliers, or even its customers, are at the source responsible for the impacts) but it helps account for most (and ideally all) of the impacts.     This framework can be replicated for biodiversity. An argument could be made that using the categories used for climate change are not fully fit for biodiversity (e.g. Scope 2 is major for climate but not for biodiversity). But I think another argument totally trumps it: why complicate things when the climate Scope categories can work? Using the same categories greatly simplify things for everyone: no need to learn new incoherent categories, data collection systems and existing software can work both for climate & biodiversity, etc.     👇 The carousel provides the equivalent of the climate Scopes for biodiversity. The value chain boundaries are broken down into: Scope 1️⃣: direct operations Scope 2️⃣: non-fuel energy purchases Upstream Scope 3️⃣: other purchases Further broken down into: - 1A. Purchased goods (excluding biomass) and services - 1B. Purchased biomass - 2. Capital goods - 3. Fuel and energy related activities - 4. Upstream transportation and distribution - 5. Waste generated in operations - 6. Business travel - 7. Employee commuting - 8. Upstream leased assets - U1. Areas used but not owned Downstream Scope 3️⃣: service & product use and end of life Further broken down into: - 9. Downstream transportation and distribution - 10. Processing of sold products - 11. Use of sold products - 12. End-of-life treatment of sold products - 13. Downstream leased assets - 14. Franchises - 15. Investments

Invitation to #Collaborate: Establishing the #Foundations of a Provider–User Network for #Climate #Accountability Current measures of climate responsibility — #NationalTotals and #PerCapitaEmissions — are blunt instruments. They ignore #SupplyChains, misrepresent #ShortLivedGases, and fail to account for #Innovation and #Resilience in global production networks. I am developing a new framework: the #ProviderUserNetwork. In this model, emissions are tracked along flows of trade and services, not confined to national borders. Each flow carries two ledgers: #ProviderStewardshipLedger (PSL): producers’ duty to decarbonise what they supply. #UserAccountabilityLedger (UAL): consumers’ duty for the emissions their demand induces. This opens the way to new indices — #NetworkEmissionsCentrality (#NEC), #ValueAdjustedWarmingIntensity (#VAWI), #UserInducedFootprint (#UIF), #InnovationOffsetPotential (#IOP), #ResilienceAdjustedResponsibility (#RAR) — and practical policy tools such as #CarbonRouting, #EdgeBasedCarbonAdjustments, and #DualLedgerDisclosures. The Initial Step: Before empirical modelling or policy design, the immediate task is a #LiteratureBasedResearch project to: Map existing work on #MRIO, #SharedResponsibility, #GWP*, #CBAM, and #ELedgers. Identify where these strands converge and where gaps remain. Establish the foundation for a robust #ResearchAgenda. Collaboration Parameters: This is a call for a very limited number of collaborators with deep expertise in #ClimatePolicy, #CarbonAccounting, #MRIOAnalysis, #GlobalTrade, and #SustainabilityMetrics. The aim is to co-develop a rigorous foundation paper that can lead to broader stages of #Research, #Modelling, and #PolicyApplication. This is not an open call. It is a targeted invitation to a select group of experts who can credibly shape the intellectual and methodological base of this work. If your expertise aligns with this effort and you are interested in joining this initial phase, I invite you to reach out.

🌍 The TPT Disclosure Framework: A Roadmap for Corporate Sustainability 🌍 The TPT Disclosure Framework (2022) highlights the key stages of transition planning for companies to align their operations with sustainability goals while maintaining accountability. It focuses on three principles—Ambition, Action, and Accountability—and provides actionable steps for businesses to achieve a structured, transparent, and impactful sustainability transition. Key Elements: 1️⃣ Foundation: Define objectives, priorities, and business model implications. 2️⃣ Implementation Strategy: Align business planning, products, services, and policies with sustainability goals. 3️⃣ Engagement Strategy: Collaborate across value chains, industries, governments, and civil society to drive collective action. 4️⃣ Metrics & Targets: Track and report progress using governance, financial, and GHG metrics. 5️⃣ Governance: Establish oversight, accountability, and a culture that incentivizes sustainability. By integrating these elements into operations, organizations can meet their climate-related disclosure requirements and build resilience while driving positive environmental and social impacts. 💡 Why It Matters: In a rapidly changing regulatory landscape, frameworks like TPT are essential for businesses to navigate their sustainability journey effectively and build trust with stakeholders. 📊 Ready to start your transition planning? Share your thoughts on this framework below! #Sustainability #CorporateResponsibility #ESG #TransitionPlanning #TPTDisclosureFramework #ClimateAction #SustainableDevelopment #Governance #NetZero #GHGEmissions #Accountability #SustainabilityLeadership

Moving Beyond Tiers as a Footnote: A Framework for Strategic Carbon Accounting For those of us building and verifying GHG inventories, the IPCC's Tier framework is more than a methodological detail—it's a critical tool for strategic resource allocation and ensuring the integrity of our decarbonisation claims. A mature inventory isn't about using one tier; it's about deploying a portfolio of them based on materiality and influence. 🔹 Tier 1 (Default Factors): The Wide-Angle Lens This is our baseline for initial hotspot analysis and scoping out immaterial sources. It's efficient for a first pass but lacks the granularity required for robust target-setting on significant emission sources. 🔹 Tier 2 (Region/Country-Specific): The Corporate Standard This is the workhorse for credible reporting. Using national grid factors or country-specific fuel data is the standard for defensible Scope 2 calculations and for bringing regional context to Scope 1 and 3 emissions. 🔹 Tier 3 (Direct Measurement/Facility-Specific): The Microscope This is the gold standard, essential where precision is non-negotiable: For your most material emission sources. For facilities operating under regulated schemes (ETS, carbon pricing). For accurately measuring the impact of specific abatement technologies and interventions. The real expertise in our field lies not in defaulting to Tier 3 everywhere, but in developing a clear, risk-based methodology for when to escalate a source from Tier 2 to Tier 3. It's about applying the microscope where it matters most to ensure our efforts and capital are driving verifiable impact. What's the key trigger in your organization for investing in Tier 3 data collection? Is it driven by materiality thresholds, abatement project ROI, or stakeholder pressure? #Decarbonization #GHGaccounting #CarbonFootprint #ESG #SustainabilityStrategy #IPCC #EmissionFactors #Scope3 #ClimateRisk