A new global coalition of businesses from diverse industries and geographies, Carbon Measures, has been launched to establish a more accurate global carbon accounting framework and accelerate market-based solutions to drive emissions reductions.
The coalition will ‘leverage sound science and the principles of financial accounting’ to facilitate the development of a carbon accounting framework that is more accurate, eliminates double counting, and addresses information gaps.
‘By better tracking emissions through the global economy, this new framework will help businesses differentiate their products and governments make more informed policy decisions,’ the coalition said in a statement.
Member companies
The initial member companies of the coalition include ADNOC, Air Liquide, Banco Santander, BASF, Bayer, CF Industries, EQT Corporation, ExxonMobil, EY, Global Infrastructure Partners (part of BlackRock), Honeywell, Linde, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mitsui & Co., Mitsui OSK Lines, NextEra Energy, Nucor, the Port of Rotterdam, and Vale, with more companies to be added in due course.
It will be led by Amy Brachio, former global vice chair and head of sustainability at EY, who will take on the role of chief executive.
“Good data leads to good decisions, but for decades, precise and comparable data has proven something of a holy grail in emissions tracking,” Brachio, who led a 40% reduction in emissions during her time with EY, commented. “I’ve had a front-row seat helping businesses struggle with a system that’s been overly reliant on estimates and dependent on voluntary commitments and good intentions to drive market action. That simply won’t be sufficient going forward.
“Carbon Measures wants to create a system that will unleash markets and competition, unlocking investment and accelerating the pace of emissions reduction – ultimately driving the kind of enduring change the world demands.”
‘Laying the groundwork’
Participating chief executives highlighted their support for the coalition and its objectives, with François Jackow, chief executive of Air Liquide Group, noted that to drive collective action to the next level, “we need harmonised product-level carbon intensity standards, supported by accurate carbon accounting, to reward low-carbon solutions and harness the power of markets”.
His sentiment was echoed by Ana Botín, executive chair of Banco Santander, who described the coalition as “laying the groundwork for real, scalable impact, building on our ongoing efforts to reduce emissions”.
Elsewhere, Leon Topalian, chair, president and chief executive of of Nucor Corporation, said that the establishment of a consistent carbon accounting framework “is critical to ensuring comparability across industries, driving credible progress toward emissions reduction, and supporting policies that align industrial efforts with broader climate objectives”. Read more here.
