During New York Climate Week in 2023, we sat down with Pankaj Bhatia, Global Director GHG Protocol at World Resources Institute, to better understand what reaching Net Zero means and what the main barriers to achieving it are.
What does reaching Net Zero mean?
For an individual company, reaching Net Zero means completely reducing their Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions to zero with the combination of their own reductions or using instruments to neutralise their residual emissions.
The biggest barrier that we face is the integrity of GHG reporting
We want to be certain that a company’s claims about its footprint are accurate and fair. Unfortunately, that is not always the case – and the main reason for that is usually the company not using the standards properly or with full integrity.
Pankaj also shared that the complexity of GHG reporting lies largely in Scope 3. There are a number of businesses involved in causing Scope 3 emissions as well as contributing to their reduction which requires collaboration and partnership. However, sometimes it requires collaboration between companies that are originally competitors and that can be challenging.
Pankaj believes that companies themselves can contribute a lot to the solution of these barriers – not only by creating and sharing accurate and complete datasets but also by encouraging and sustaining collaboration with each other.
The Value Change Initiative works to make Net Zero value chains possible by removing barriers to accounting for value chain or Scope 3 emission reductions. It brings together leading corporates, civil society actors, recognised standards and Scope 3 experts to solve the practical challenges and co-create guidance on the consensus generated. The VCI Guidance delivers a clear and consistent approach to Scope 3 mitigation actions, enabling companies to credibly account for value chain emission reductions, report impact up and down their value chains and accurately show progress towards their science-based targets.
Join the effort to make Net Zero value chains a reality
Help scale value chain action and test practical solutions by joining peer organisations and Scope 3 practitioners in one of the Value Change Initiative’s workstreams.
