Scope 3 emissions are often the elephant in the room — labor-intensive to map, yet essential for achieving meaningful sustainability goals. To discuss this topic, Intire hosted its first Carbon Accounting roundtable on Thursday the 28th of November, focusing on the essential steps for successfully tackling CO₂ emissions mapping. The session brought together a diverse group of 20 participants, with expertise in sustainability, finance, operations, and even academia focused on sustainability reporting. Together, we focused on the key question: What are the essential steps for successfully tackling Carbon Accounting?
What did we discuss?
During an interactive session, we discussed the challenges and exchange experiences of Carbon Accounting through an industry case presented by Bart Hillen:
Bart Hillen shared insights from Royal Van Leeuwen Pipes & Tubes’ journey in implementing Carbon Accounting, with a particular focus on addressing Scope 3 emissions. Drawing from his extensive experience in various finance leadership roles, Bart highlighted the challenges of managing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, the importance of obtaining accurate data, and balancing pragmatism with accuracy in reporting.
Introduction to Carbon Accounting
The event kicked off with a catch-up session on carbon accounting by Intire’s Nathalie de Vries, emphasizing the growing importance of carbon accounting, with a focus on meeting ESRS disclosure requirements. Furthermore, the GHG Protocol, definitions of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, and the need to address Scope 3 categories for comprehensive reporting were highlighted.
Carbon Accounting at Royal Van Leeuwen Pipes & Tubes
The event continued with a presentation by Bart Hillen from Van Leeuwen, providing an in-depth look into his organization’s sustainability journey. As a family-owned business, Van Leeuwen places a high value on sustainability, illustrated by their installation of nearly 20,000 solar panels and transition to green energy contracts. While Van Leeuwen has fully mapped its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, he shared candid insights for addressing Scope 3 emissions, identifying purchased goods and services as a particularly challenging area due to limited influence on suppliers.
ESG Software for Carbon Accounting
Thereafter, the first breakout session discussed common challenges and diverse perspectives on whether Excel is sufficient for managing carbon data compared to specialized ESG software. Participants agreed that Excel can be a practical starting point to define needs before investing in tools. However, for ongoing data collection and analysis, particularly for regular reporting, many recognized the benefits of specialized software. Examples included tools like Measurabl and Beeezz, which streamline processes and offer scalability. Some shared experiences of becoming co-developers when selecting and implementing software, highlighting the challenges of aligning tools with organizational needs. Building on this lively discussion, Wietse Mol from Intire offered a presentation on Beezzz as an example of how specialized ESG software can offer additional value, by providing a hands-on demo showcasing how carbon accounting is addressed in Beezzz.
Gathering Carbon Data from Operations
The second breakout discussion further highlighted critical challenges and practical insights. On obtaining appropriate emission factors, participants noted the varying maturity of companies in providing data. The discussion underscored that as reporting pressure grows across supply chains, smoother information exchange will be essential, especially in sectors where shared data benefits all. Regarding responsibility for Scope 3 data, experiences varied, with some organizations appointing dedicated sustainability managers while others relied on cross-departmental collaboration. However, clear templates and centralized data systems were identified as key to improving efficiency and accuracy, with automation and AI offering promising solutions. Lastly, many participants agreed on the labor-intensive nature of mapping Scope 3 emissions, but stressed the need for actionable insights and transparency to guide meaningful decision-making. The need to balance calculation efforts with actionable measures was a recurring theme.
Main takeaways:
Based on Bart’s case, we will discuss the following topics
- Collaboration, accurate data, and pragmatic use of tools like the GHG Protocol are vital for navigating corporate sustainability challenges.
- It is of high importance to integrate carbon accounting within broader sustainability systems to avoid fragmentation and enhance efficiency.
- Specialized ESG tools streamline processes and enhance scalability over Excel.
- Tools and frameworks are essential but must be tailored to organizational needs.
- Clear roles, collaboration both internally and across supply chains, and centralized systems improve efficiency and transparency.
- Actionable insights from carbon accounting drive meaningful sustainability decisions.
- Scope 3 remains a significant challenge, demanding innovative approaches and persistent engagement, but essential for comprehensive carbon accounting.
We thank all participants for their valuable contributions and particularly extend our gratitude to Bart Hillen for his inspiring keynote. This roundtable reaffirmed the importance of open dialogue and collaboration as we collectively navigate the path toward sustainability.
Stay tuned for future events where we continue to explore solutions to the pressing challenges in sustainability and ESG reporting!
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