Climate policy in the EU has so far lacked a holistic view on how supply chain emissions are addressed and accounted for. In the EU, the main legislation which currently governs its climate ambition and corporate compliance are focused on Scope 1 emissions, and to some extent on Scope 2 emissions. 

At the same time, companies are facing growing pressure from asset owners, employees, lawmakers and activists to reduce emissions across their entire value-chain, since it is deemed critical to investors and other stakeholders that these companies tackle environmental factors and risks from value-chain (Scope 3) emissions (e.g. TCFD, SBTi, EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy). 

The EU Climate Law as well as the intermediate targets such as the one to 2030, make it increasingly clear to corporations that all emissions will need to tend to zero in the longer term, and that all emissions will eventually be regulated. The opportunity space for voluntary commitments will, in other words, at some point have to disappear in a net zero world. 

In view of the growing importance of addressing supply chain emissions, ERCST has embarked on an exploration of the main issues and options regarding how to identify and measure these emissions, and what role they should play in the transition to a low-carbon future. 

As part of this project ERCST organized three stakeholder workshops with different industry sectors, government actors and think tanks and conducted consultations with government representatives of various EU Member States. 

Building on these activities and on desk research, ERCST has produced a paper that: a) summarizes the views and sentiments of the stakeholders on this issue, b) examines the conceptual and methodological issues around measuring, attributing and accounting for supply chain (Scope 3) emissions, c) explores policy options for incentivizing supply chain emissions and d) looks into potential overlaps and synergies with existing voluntary and regulatory frameworks. 

During this meeting ERCST will present the paper ‘Role of Supply Chain Emissions in decarbonization and compliance’ which will be followed by initial reactions from invited speakers and a roundtable discussion with participants. 

Workshop Material(s)

Agenda

Report: Role of Supply Chain Emissions in Decarbonization and compliance

ERCST Presentation

Fuels Europe/Concawe Case Study

Netherlands Presentation

This will be a hybrid meeting:

• For those attending in-person the meeting will take place in Rue Archimède 61, Brussels, Belgium
• For those attending online the meeting will take place on Zoom