Ricardo and Manufacture 2030 explore supply chain decarbonisation

As the number of large multi-national companies committing to science-based carbon reduction targets continues to grow, the focus in the private sector is shifting away from understanding retrospective performance to looking forward and accurately estimating progress towards future targets.

In collaboration, Ricardo’s vast experience in corporate decarbonisation and net zero strategy development and product lifecycle assessments will combine with M2030’s robust supplier engagement, reporting, and carbon reduction management platform. These shared capabilities will help global brands to better understand where hotspots of Scope 3 emissions sit within products and within the supply chain, with suppliers then being supported to implement decarbonisation projects and programs more successfully, ensuring emissions reduction targets are met with much greater certainty. The combination of Ricardo’s greenhouse gas (GHG) scenario planning expertise and M2030’s ‘glidepath’ reporting, which is underpinned by building and implementing impact reduction action plans, will provide senior leadership teams in large multi-national corporations with pathways which can be implemented to decarbonise their supply chains.

As well as conducting detailed Scope 3 GHG inventories and engaging suppliers at a site-level to measure and reduce carbon impacts from day one, the partnership will look to address the increasing demand for more accurate supplier-specific data using M2030’s platform and integrate with product carbon footprints. Central to this will be the ability to complement industry average emissions factors with primary data collected directly from suppliers. This enhances the accuracy of the modelling behind a product carbon footprint, and also highlights where and what improvements should be targeted and implemented across energy and raw material use.

Tim Curtis, Managing Director, Ricardo Energy & Environment said: “The United Nations has defined 2020-2030 as the decade of action, calling for governments and the private sector to accelerate the implementation of net zero ambitions. Organisations recognise the importance of reducing carbon emissions and are feeling pressure from investors and customers to take credible action over the next decade. Ricardo’s collaboration with M2030 is therefore extremely exciting, as it will give business leaders greater certainty about what they need to do and indicate how well they are progressing with their decarbonisation ambitions.”

Martin Chilcott, Founder and CEO, Manufacture 2030, added: “M2030 is committed to harnessing the scale of global supply chains to drive rapid Scope 3 decarbonisation, helping both our buyer and supplier clients to feel much greater certainty that their environmental targets will be met on time. Combining our shared skillsets, Ricardo and M2030 hope not only to reduce emissions across industries, but to help global companies play a key part in tackling the greatest challenge our time.”