New reporting tool for SMEs will help corporates too
We Mean Business Coalition
No company can call itself a climate leader unless it is taking steps to cut the largest proportion of its emissions: those from its value chain, including goods and services purchased from suppliers.
Setting a science-based target that includes these indirect (‘Scope 3’) emissions is a critical step to demonstrating ambition, the first of We Mean Business Coalition’s 4 A’s of Climate Leadership. Turning ambition into action involves engaging suppliers to drive down their emissions – following the lead of IKEA and other companies using tried-and-tested approaches to engage their networks. Finally, disclosing progress made in delivering on targets across all scopes contributes to the fourth ‘A’ – accountability.
Reporting is essential from the very start of this journey. Companies need to build a high-quality Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory to identify emissions hotspots, risks and opportunities – and share progress made.
However, reporting on emissions can be a challenge for companies large and small. Medium-to-large businesses struggle with incomplete, inconsistent and incompatible supplier emissions data. Small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs) lack the resources, capacity and time to tackle long forms and guidance documents.
The good news is that help is at hand with a new, free reporting tool from the SME Climate Hub. The tool allows SMEs committed to the initiative to publish a simplified yearly carbon emissions report, summarizing annual GHG emissions and actions taken to reduce those emissions.
An initiative of the We Mean Business Coalition and partners, the SME Climate Hub equips SMEs to help them more seamlessly navigate emissions reductions. The new reporting tool, for example, is based on a simplified disclosure framework designed by CDP, Exponential Roadmap and Normative and allows for a streamlined approach to an often-complicated process.
The new tool provides yet another reason why corporates who are serious about tackling their supply chain emissions should direct their small and medium-sized suppliers to the SME Climate Hub.
Reporting will be mandatory for all companies who make the SME Climate Commitment, to maintain their status as a committed business and a member of the Race to Zero campaign. This will enable transparency and allow corporates to more easily scrutinize their suppliers’ action.
It will also help identity the SMEs providing solutions that might help corporations further decarbonize their operations – from low-carbon deliveries, electric vehicle infrastructure and carbon capture technologies to innovative packaging.
That’s why we urge all SMEs to make the SME climate commitment, which will give them access to this tool – and many other tools and guidance. Larger companies can benefit by encouraging their suppliers to sign up to the SME Climate Hub. With a clearer picture of emissions and actions being taken to reduce them, businesses of all sizes can better collaborate towards a safer, resilient and more sustainable future.