During New York Climate Week in 2022, we sat down with Noora Singh, PepsiCo Global Sustainability Senior Director, to explore what makes accounting and reporting on Scope 3 reductions such a complex challenge for organisations and how collective action can help tackle this challenge.
Scope 3 is a challenge for PepsiCo, just as it is for most companies in the food and agriculture sector. Scope 3 makes up over 90% of PepsiCo’s emissions which are controlled by others. This greatly limits the influence and the visibility the organisation has on them.
What makes accounting and reporting on Scope 3 emissions reductions or removals such a complex challenge for an organisation like PepsiCo comes down to: the complexity of the supply chain; traceability; the availability and transferability of data and information; and the lack of common standards and guidance.
For example, PepsiCo has traceability down to the mill level in their agriculture supply chain. This means accounting for the impact achieved through interventions at farm level remains a challenge. And where direct supply chains and a direct relationship with growers exist, the data and information PepsiCo needs to track and report progress against their Scope 3 targets isn’t always available perfectly.
How can collective action help overcome those challenges?
Collaboration with industry groups, peer companies, suppliers and value chain partners is crucial to tackle Scope 3 challenges. Scope 3 is by nature a collective challenge and unless companies can collaborate with their partners, they simply won’t be able to meet their goals.
Providing a forum where companies can come together to discuss challenges, share best practices, learn from one another and collectively move forward is key to advancing Scope 3 action.
Join the effort to make Net Zero value chains a reality
The Value Change Initiative has been working to develop sector-specific solutions in collaboration with its members since 2017. This year, the VCI launches its fourth iteration of the Food & Agriculture Working Group, continuing to address sector-specific needs and challenges and co-create solutions to catalyse Scope 3 action. The Working Group aims to extend the existing Value Chain Guidance[2] to ensure it supports the realities and complexities of Scope 3 accounting in the Food & Agriculture sector. It builds on the latest technical guidance gaps and previous Working Groups to answer remaining open questions.
