Carbon Measures, a new global coalition representing major businesses from diverse industries and geographies, including famous names from shipping, ports and large charterers, has launched this week seeking to establish what they claim is a more accurate carbon accounting framework as well as to drive market-based solutions to reduce emissions at the lowest cost.
The coalition’s work will leverage science and the principles of financial accounting to help enable a ledger-based, accurate carbon accounting framework that eliminates double-counting and addresses current information gaps.
If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it
“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 non-profit stated in a release.
Among its 20 founding signatories are Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines, Mitsui & CO, ADNOC from the Middle East, Brazilian miner Vale, ExxonMobil and the Port of Rotterdam.
Carbon Measures is calling for a new policy that unlocks innovation, competition and the power of the market, arguing that product-level carbon intensity standards, based on verifiable data informed by an enhanced emissions accounting framework, can create markets in which businesses are rewarded for investing in low-carbon production.
Carbon Measures will focus on advancing the carbon accounting framework as well as designing carbon intensity standards for key industrial products – such as electricity, fuel, steel, concrete and chemicals – that form the basis of most supply chains and collectively account for the majority of global emissions.
Amy Brachio takes the helm as the CEO of Carbon Measures after nearly three decades at Ernst & Young.
“Good data leads to good decisions, but for decades, precise and comparable data has proven something of a holy grail in emissions tracking. 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,” Brachio said, adding: “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.”
Other companies of the coalition include Banco Santander; BASF; Bayer; Global Infrastructure Partners; and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. The first step to reducing global emissions is to know where they’re coming from—and today, we don’t have an accurate system to do this. A standard carbon emissions accounting methodology provides a necessary foundation for a framework that will encourage competition, leverage each company’s strengths, and mobilise market forces to meet the challenge of growing energy demand while lowering emissions,” said Darren Woods, Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil.
