AI’s new Potential for Scope 3 Decarbonization

In order to meet climate targets within their supply chain (Scope 3), companies must gather and interpret extensive data on emissions, climate risks, and other factors from their suppliers. Until now, this widely dispersed data could only be acquired through manual processes and individual supplier consultations, demanding significant time and resource investments. However, a transformation is underway. Advanced AI technology now enables the quick and automatic aggregation of climate-related supplier data from public sources, facilitating its analysis for scope 3 decarbonization.

Unlock the Potentials of AI for your Supply Chain Decarbonization! Get Exclusive Access to our AI Supplier Screening Programm, to manage Scope 3 Data and implement Actions.

How exactly can this work? That’s what we shared at CHOICE Event #61 with Yasha Tarani (CEO) and Nikolas Martens (Head of Engineering) from The Climate Choice. Find here their most important insights.

Why is Scope 3 Decarbonization important? 

Deloitte conducts an annual study that delves into the priorities of top executives (CxOs) in large companies across the globe, shedding light on why they choose to address specific issues. Their findings reveal a significant shift in the corporate landscape. Notably, climate change has ascended to a position of paramount importance, second only to economic outlook. This signals a pivotal moment where climate concerns have permeated the highest echelons of corporate leadership. However, it’s imperative to recognize that the impetus to act on climate issues doesn’t merely stem from regulatory pressures. It also emanates from a multitude of stakeholders who demand action.

One crucial aspect that emerges prominently is the role of supply chain emissions (Scope 3). These emissions represent the lion’s share, comprising an average of 85% of a company’s total emissions. Yet, addressing supply chain emissions is a formidable challenge due to their indirect nature, which presents multiple complexities and obstacles.

Why is Scope 3 Decarbonization so hard?

Companies striving to meet their Scope 3 decarbonization targets encounter several significant challenges when it comes to effectively utilizing supplier-specific data. These challenges can impede their ability to take meaningful actions. Here’s a breakdown of these challenges and their implications:

Continuous Tracking:

• Challenge: Managing annual data collection from a vast network of thousands of suppliers can be a daunting and resource-intensive task.
• Implication: This continuous tracking requirement demands a robust system that can efficiently gather data from a multitude of sources without overwhelming the company’s resources. It also necessitates real-time or near-real-time data updates to stay current.

Data Quality:

• Challenge: Supplier data often comes in various formats, documentation styles, and may lack comparability, making it difficult to draw meaningful insights or comparisons.
• Implication: Ensuring data quality is paramount. Implementing standardization protocols, data validation, and normalization processes is crucial to derive accurate and actionable insights from diverse data sources.

Assessment Fatigue:

• Challenge: Suppliers are frequently inundated with data requests from different customers, each with varying data needs, creating a state of assessment fatigue.
• Implication: Companies must adopt a more strategic approach to supplier engagement. This includes minimizing repetitive requests, streamlining communication, and aligning data requests with suppliers’ capabilities and priorities to maintain productive relationships.

Lack of Incentives:

• Challenge: Encouraging suppliers to actively engage in decarbonization efforts can be challenging, as they may lack motivation or a clear understanding of the benefits.
• Implication: To address this, companies must develop a Theory of Change that outlines the incentives and benefits for suppliers to participate in sustainability initiatives. This may include cost savings, improved market access, or enhanced brand reputation.

The solution: the Climate Intelligence Platform

At The Climate Choice, we focus on solving the key challenges of Scope 3 decarbonization. We have therefore built the first climate-specialized platform that unites supplier data & engagement to rapidly reduce emissions. Our approach is designed to help companies kickstart their supplier climate program in days rather than in months.

So what does the approach look like? Here are the key steps:

1. Leveraging AI for Scope 3 Analysis: Begin by harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze suppliers with publicly available data. This automated analysis provides valuable insights into their environmental performance, emissions, and climate-related practices. This initial assessment sets the foundation for informed decision-making.

2. Engaging Suppliers without Public Data: Recognize that not all suppliers may have publicly accessible environmental data. For such suppliers, the approach shifts towards assessing their maturity level in terms of sustainability practices. This assessment serves as a starting point, allowing you to provide constructive feedback and guidance.

3. Focused Benchmarking and Incentives: Identify your top suppliers and those contributing significantly to emissions within your supply chain. These key players warrant a more detailed and granular benchmarking process. Additionally, consider implementing incentive mechanisms to encourage these suppliers to actively reduce their environmental footprint. Incentives can take various forms, such as financial rewards or preferential treatment within your supply network.

The first step: AI Supplier Screening

To speed up the launch of your supplier engagement program while minimizing resource requirements, we present our new AI supplier screening program. This program leverages cutting-edge technology to streamline the process, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness throughout. Here’s a breakdown of how the AI supplier screening program operates:

1. Comprehensive Data Collection: The program incorporates an AI-driven data pipeline that autonomously gathers detailed Scope 3 information from diverse sources. This data pipeline is designed to collect granular data pertinent to your supplier profiles.

2. Robust Data Analysis: Once the data is collected, our system performs a meticulous analysis. It scrutinizes a range of climate data documents and taps into publicly available data sources to create a comprehensive profile of each supplier. This analysis extends beyond surface-level assessments to provide a deeper understanding of their climate-related practices.

How AI Supplier Screening Works:

• List of Suppliers: The process commences with a list of your suppliers, encompassing the entirety of your supply chain network.
• Identify Company: The AI system employs advanced algorithms to identify each supplier as a distinct entity, ensuring accuracy in the subsequent steps.
• Identify Reporting Entity: It further distinguishes the reporting entity within the supplier organization, recognizing the entity responsible for providing climate-related data.
• Identify Data Sources: The program identifies and categorizes the various data sources associated with each supplier, whether internal or external.
• Extract & Verify Data: Leveraging state-of-the-art data extraction techniques, the AI system extracts and verifies the pertinent climate data from these sources, ensuring data accuracy and reliability.

What are the tangible outcomes of the AI supplier screening?

The AI supplier screening program yields a range of tangible outcomes that can significantly benefit your organization in its pursuit of Scope 3 goals. Here are the notable advantages and insights that emerge from this innovative approach:

Automated Analysis of Thousands of Companies: The program’s capabilities extend to the automated analysis of thousands of companies within your supply chain ecosystem. This extensive coverage ensures that you can comprehensively assess and engage with a wide array of suppliers, maximizing the program’s effectiveness.

Inclusion of Meta Data: In addition to climate-specific data, the analysis encompasses meta data that provides valuable context. This includes details such as revenue figures and sectors in which these companies operate. Such comprehensive insights enable more informed decision-making.

Audit-Ready Data: The data generated through the AI screening program is audit-ready, ensuring that it meets the highest standards of accuracy and reliability. This audit readiness is pivotal, especially when it comes to compliance requirements and reporting.

Accessibility via API: The convenience of accessing the data via an Application Programming Interface (API) streamlines its utilization within your organization’s existing systems and workflows. This seamless integration enhances the efficiency of your sustainability initiatives.

Key Insights Uncovered

The program goes beyond data collection to uncover key insights that can inform your sustainability strategy. These insights encompass:

Supplier Maturity Structure: You gain a clear understanding of the maturity levels of your suppliers concerning sustainability practices. This allows you to tailor engagement strategies accordingly.

Trends in Climate-Related Data: The program identifies and highlights trends in climate-related data, providing valuable intelligence for decision-making and future planning.

Scope 3 Emission Breakdowns: Detailed breakdowns of Scope 3 emissions help you pinpoint areas of focus and prioritize decarbonization efforts.

Decarbonization Actions: The program’s analysis identifies potential decarbonization actions that can be taken. It offers actionable pathways to reduce emissions and improve sustainability performance.

Join the Early Access Program today

You can now seize the opportunity as one of the early adopters, accessing the full array of AI benefits for your Scope 3 targets through our exclusive Early Access program. By joining, you’ll experience firsthand the advantages we offer. We anticipate an average savings of 90% in both time and cost for the collection and analysis of supplier data. Don’t miss out on the chance to be at the forefront of this transformative technology.

Request to join the Early Access Program today, it’s limited!

The Climate Power of Supply Chains – 10 Steps towards Decarbonization in Scope 3.

The pressing issue of climate disclosure are making it clear. CO₂ numbers are not enough to understand the climate performance of a company – as we all know. Instead, companies are establishing holistic climate management approaches in order to drive real change. A market transition that is very much highlighted by rising regulations such as the European Supply Chain Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the Corporate Social Responsibility Directive (CSRD) and the de facto standard for climate-relevant information from the Task Force on Climate Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

What is holistic climate management in supply chains all about?

However, there is even one step further to take. Sustainability leaders know that climate impacts, risks and necessary decarbonization actions don’t end at the office door. Instead, investors, customers and policymakers urge companies to take responsibility for their entire value chain and purchasing decisions. The growing climate crisis shows that supply chain resilience and the transformation of entire business models are more important than ever.

Challenge of going beyond the basic CO₂ Footprint in Scope 1 & 2

When addressing climate responsibility within and beyond the own company, it becomes tricky. As climate-relevant information in Scope 3 are connected to hundreds and sometimes thousands of suppliers. Meanwhile, your climate data needs to be accurate, granular, and auditable.

Achieving net-zero for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions presents a substantial technical and economic challenge for many companies. Addressing Scope 3 emissions adds an additional layer of complexity. Such as, but not limited to:

• Consistent carbon accounting and climate performance tracking practices
• The need to work collaboratively with suppliers and business partners
• Handling multi-tiered supply networks and difficulties of engaging them in the improvement process

So how do sustainability and procurement leaders alike overcome this challenge?

Manage your Decarbonization Journey in Scope 3

Overarching climate goals in the supply chain can only be achieved by treating and involving the supply chain as a crucial aspect of any firm’s holistic climate performance. Therefore, businesses must collaborate with their suppliers to enable them to play a vital role in their climate transformation.

By publicly disclosing climate targets for Scope 3, emissions and decarbonization measures along the supply chain, an organization demonstrates accountability and provides stakeholders with vital information for understanding its climate performance. Beside regulatory pressure, new market mechanisms already show that those companies gain competitive advantages and are ahead of their peers. Undergoing a significant shift, business partners, customers and stakeholders alike increasingly consider climate impact in their decision-making. This presents the opportunity to align business strategies with market expectations and respond to the growing decarbonization demands proactively.

10 Steps towards climate-relevant data in Scope 3 – powered by Supplier Engagement

STEP1 – SET YOUR FOUNDATION

To embark on the path of supply chain decarbonization, you must begin by establishing a solid foundation. Start by making your climate commitment public, setting ambitious targets that include your supply chain. Assess your emissions and clearly define your priorities for implementing actions and solutions in your own transition. Aim high and align your goals with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.

STEP 2 – ACCEPT THE AMBIGUOUS STATUS QUO

Acknowledging the diversity of targets, strategies, incentives, and requirements within your own company is crucial. Align your sustainability and procurement offices to ensure a successful program outcome. Assemble a dedicated #TeamClimate and ask yourselves the important questions: Why do we need this program? What outcomes do we anticipate? Who needs to be involved? With these answers, you can set the stage for success.

STEP 3 – BE SIMPLE!

Simplicity is key when starting your supply chain decarbonization journey. Avoid overwhelming complexity right from the beginning. Instead, focus on asking your suppliers simple yet essential questions: Have you set climate targets? Have you calculated your emissions? What climate actions are you planning to implement? By keeping it simple, you can prevent frustration and maintain momentum.

STEP 4 -START WITH YOUR HOTSPOTS IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN

Having set your climate targets and aligned your internal team, it’s time to identify the hotspots in your supply chain. Utilize third-party data, databases, screening or a spend-based approach to gain an initial understanding of your value chain’s status quo. Cluster suppliers based on their climate maturity and strategic importance to pinpoint the hotspots that require your attention. The Climate Intelligence Platform offers a swift and straightforward way to screen your supplier base and kick-start your supplier climate engagement program.

STEP 5 – CLARIFY DATA NEEDS FOR TEAM SUSTAINABILITY AND PROCUREMENT

Before engaging with your supply chain, ensure that your internal stakeholders are on the same page. Align your sustainability and procurement teams regarding data, processes, and next steps.
This collaborative effort ensures that everyone is working towards the same goals and expectations. Clear communication is essential.

STEP 6 – SET UP THE PROCESS IN PROCUREMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY TEAM

Establishing the supplier engagement program is often organized by the procurement team. However, the sustainability team’s involvement is crucial in providing insights and publishing a clear message regarding your supply chain climate targets. This collaboration strengthens the credibility of your program and enables effective engagement with suppliers.

STEP 7 – START ENGAGING SUPPLIERS BY STRESSING THE “WHY”

Now it’s time to reach out and communicate with your suppliers. Make it a two-way conversation by inviting collaboration, sharing knowledge and resources, and guiding them through the journey. Highlight the benefits for suppliers supporting your climate initiative and provide incentives to get them on board. Build relationships and emphasize the collective effort needed to make a difference.

STEP 8 – DON’T OVERWHELM, STAY SIMPLE!

Understand that managing climate issues can be overwhelming for both you and your suppliers. Be open to feedback and improvement. Remember that we are all on this climate journey together, transitioning toward a low-carbon economy will take time. Motivate and engage your business partners, support them along the way.

STEP 9 – DARE TO TAKE DECISIONS

With information, feedback, and data in hand, it’s time to make decisions. Data should be utilized to gain insights and inform decision-making processes. Define a baseline from which you started and plan the next steps that bring you and your suppliers closer to achieving Net Zero. Address crucial questions such as how to provide climate knowledge to suppliers, share best practices, define quirements, and collaborate on taking action.

STEP 10-REPORT AND REPEAT

You took the first 9 steps, talk about it and share your learnings. This leads to your final step: report and repeat. You will repeat the process next year, so it’s the best time to get into the improvements and actions – together with your suppliers.

Let’s take action together!

This is why at THE CLIMATE CHOICE we empower every single company to become a climate champion in order to implement its climate targets and reduce emissions.

How? We start with the most impactful part: the supply chain. Which typically consists of hundreds and thousands of small and medium sized suppliers. They have the power to drive climate actions at scale. To do so, they need to understand where they stand in terms of climate transformation and work transparently together with their business partners to implement meaningful measures.

Our software-based Climate Intelligence Platform collects climate-focused data from companies, represents them in CLIMATE Scorecards and provides business insides into risks, potentials and best practices to reduce emissions.

Get more information in the Climate Playbook 2023, which provides a comprehensive overview of key insights from the CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2023 (#CTS2023) and serves as a guide for companies to transition from incremental internal to exponential climate action across the supply chain.

Yes, we can halve emissions by 2030! Meet the Climate Solutions already out there.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges that humanity is facing today and an issue that needs collective effort. Thus, as we approach the CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2023, we want to  present to you all the great CLIMATE Solutions that are already out there!

First things first. We are going into the fourth round of ClimateSummit.de and  #CTS2023 is expected to be one of the most important sustainability events in the B2B sector this year – according to HAUFE. One of the reasons for this is the CLIMATE Online Fair happening on both days of the Summit. During these time slots, you will be able to meet inspiring climate pioneers and learn about their innovations, products and services that allow companies to reduce emissions. Why is that important?

It’s essential to realize that we already have many of the technologies needed to fight climate change and support companies in their decarbonization journey. Our CLIMATE Online Fair is an excellent opportunity for companies to learn about some of these solutions and start implementing them in their operations. By working together, we can create a sustainable future for ourselves and future generations.

In this blog entry, you have the opportunity to acquaint yourself with some of the exhibitors who will showcase their work at #CTS2023, to give you an idea of who you are going to meet. Let’s go!

MEET THE CLIMATE SOLUTION EXHIBITORS!

Dive deep and get to know the climate solutions at #CTS2023 – and if you want to become an exhibitor yourself next year, you can apply here.

• Afb Social and green IT is a non-profit IT company specialized in the recovery, remarketing and ecologically-sound disposal of decommissioned IT hardware.
• AutenSys is an energy engineering consultancy that develops green energy solutions for industry, commerce and municipalities.
• CarbonStack accelerates the transformation to CO₂ neutrality by offsetting emissions that are difficult to avoid with local compensation projects.
• ClimateSeed supports organizations in measuring, reducing, and reporting GHG emissions, and contributing to high-quality carbon reduction projects.
• climony guides users through their journey towards a 1.5-degree compatible lifestyle.
• Cubemos helps companies optimize their sustainability management and increase confidence in their sustainability performance. 
• eevie enables companies to develop a climate-friendly corporate culture and reach sustainability goals faster.
• Greenmiles offers comprehensive advice on climate strategy, climate accounting and offsetting.
• LegalTegrity offers software that supports transparency and compliance along the  supply chain. 
• nadar builds trust in the carbon market with their digital MRV platform powered by earth observation and satellite imagery.
• Ørsted is a renewable energy company and is listed as global leader on climate action.
• recarb is a certification standard for a new dynamic asset class, called Carbon Shares. 
• TapTree is the best payment solution for sustainable buying experiences by linking payment methods with climate protection projects and social-ecological content.
• THE CLIMATE CHOICE – Leading Climate Intelligence Platform to decarbonize companies and tehir supply chains.
• TREEO’s single tree monitoring app provides reliable data and gives tree growers access to the CO2 market. 
• upstream supports companies in establishing a circular economy with closed resource cycles.
• Verso supports companies in their climate transformation with its software for sustainability, CO₂ management and services in the area of CSR reporting. 
• 2Zero engages and motivates employees for a sustainable mindset with gamified challenges. 

WHAT NOW?

I don’t know about you, but I already feel inspired by simply looking at all the climate solutions out there! I can’t wait to see what each exhibitor will prepare to customize their own Virtual Booth.

Join us at our CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2023 on 11th & 12th May, online & live!

Don’t forget to get your ticket here and see you there!

THE CLIMATE CHOICE says thank you for a special 2022!

What a year for climate champions! We all faced major new challenges in 2022 – especially companies that were particularly hard hit by the energy crisis and supply chain bottlenecks. Despite everything, you, the CLIMATE community, have continued to work with us to drive the transformation to a low-carbon economy. There have been many positive highlights and developments for which we at THE CLIMATE CHOICE want to say thank you. Let’s take a look at how 2022 allowed us to boost climate transformation all around the globe!

Kicking off the year with strong, new partners

Our year began with a firework of climate action. We were able to start working with many new major and influential customers for the Climate Intelligence Platform, including, as two special highlights, the corporate projects with the mobile phone provider o2 Telefónica and the baby food manufacturer HiPP. We kicked off inspiring collaborations to elevate the transparency of emissions along their supply chains by using our platform.

HiPP was able to successfully identify climate-related risks and potentials of five suppliers with the help of our software tool. HiPP’s Head of Sustainability Management Dr. Johannes Knubben reflects: “The software tool from THE CLIMATE CHOICE enables us to implement a scalable and reliable process to increase the climate-relevant transparency of our supply chain.”

Our next goal is to extend the software-driven climate data collection initially to other partners and ultimately to HiPP’s supply chain. Through an integration of THE CLIMATE CHOICE software tool into HiPP’s sustainability and procurement strategy, the full potential of climate-relevant supplier management is to be exploited.

Our corporate project with o2 Telefónica also successfully identified climate-related risks and potentials of the selected suppliers. The company is now able to develop a transparent, scalable process for collecting comparable data on the climate maturity of suppliers.

In the next step, we will integrate our platform into the procurement dashboard of o2 Telefónica. The climate-relevant data collection for the decarbonization of Scope 3 will be extended to around 1,000 suppliers.

CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit 2022

The climate action kept on flowing and reached a new peak at our #CTS2022. For the third year in a row, we brought together international climate leaders and procurement experts for our two-day 100% online Climate Transformation Summit. 

We welcomed 64 speakers, who interacted with over 1,000 attendees from 59 different countries. Attendees had the chance to participate in 12 limited workshops together with our Partners from B.A.U.M. e.V., First Climate, BearingPoint, AXA Climate School, Enviria, Fairantwortung gAG, Katjes Fassin GmbH & Co. KG, Regionique, IBM, Make-IT Alliance, Telefónica Germany, EcoVadis, Alice Schmidt, ESG Portfolio Management,  Sustainable Procurement Pledge Germany, Development and Climate Alliance Foundation and WWF Germany. THE CLIMATE CHOICE says thank you!

More good news: We just announced the date for #CTS2023! We cannot wait to welcome you on May 11 & 12 2023 for two days full of climate action! Our focus this year: Making it happen – the decarbonization of supply chains! Together with you and leading experts, we will find out how we can impement CO₂ reduction along the value chain.

You can’t wait to secure your spot?
Get your Super Early-Bird ticket now!

You want to be a speaker, workshop host or partner? 
Let’s get in touch.

Launching CLIMATE Readiness Check

The most important insight we gained from the discussions at the #CTS2022 was that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular still find it very difficult to get a quick start in climate transformation because they often do not have sufficient know-how and/or resources. In response to this challenge, we worked over the summer on a new solution offering.

The result: In October, we launched our digital and freely available Climate Readiness Check in partnership with 10 leading sustainability organizations. Among those B.A.U.M. e.V., Bundesverband Nachhaltige Wirtschaft e.V. (BNW), Stiftung Allianz für Klima und Entwicklung, Jaro Institut für Nachhaltigkeit und Digitalisierung e.V., and the Deutscher Mittelstands-Bund (DMB).

The Climate Readiness Check offers SMEs an easy entry point into their climate transformation: through knowledge and insights into their own climate maturity, benchmarks, suggestions for improvement, and access to a B2B climate data platform.

Our Launch was a full success! We are beyond happy to see so many companies kicking off their climate transformation with our Climate Readiness Check! We can’t wait to see who will join us in 2023!

You too can conduct the Climate Readiness Check for your company now and get free access to our platform!

Kickstarter Program 2022

In addition to the projects we developed ourselves, this year we were also part of pioneering external initiatives. Among them, one highlight: In August, we were selected from more than 2.000 applicants for the Climate Lab and Kickstart Innovation scale-up program in the finance and insurance track! Kickstart is one of the largest European Innovation Platforms. Each year they chose a select number of the best international startups to participate in a 10-week program.

We were honored to work in the program with corporates – such as Swisscom, Credit Suisse, AXA, Sanitas, Post Finance, La Mobilière, Coop, CSS, SATW – from the DACH region, who strive to reduce climate risks and emissions in value chains.

Thanks for the EU ‘Best Digital Solution’ Award

The cherry on top of 2022 was winning the “Best Digital Solution” award from the European Commission. The award recognizes the development of our software platform for the collection of climate-relevant data from suppliers and attributes it great impact potential for the greening and digitalization of European industry.

On behalf of the European Commission’s DG GROW, Deputy Director General Hubert Gambs emphasized: “Digital solutions are not only useful to be competitive and provide better value to European customers. They are also key to making our economy greener and European businesses more resilient to future shocks.”

We are so grateful and can’t wait to enable more businesses in boosting their climate transformation!

Many, many thanks for driving our Mission together!

Our mission at THE CLIMATE CHOICE is transforming every company into a climate champion and enabling businesses to make procurement decisions that are aligned with the 1.5-degree-goal! We have summarized our mission for you in this short video.

We are very grateful to work with inspiring companies – and that media is increasingly sharing our mission. THE CLIMATE CHOICE says thank you Süddeutsche Zeitung, t3n, Berliner Morgenpost, Gründerszene and many more, for featuring our platform and allowing us to gain more visibility on our mission! 

Our Wrap up, 2022!

Let’s wrap it up before we go back to wrapping presents. 2022 was a complicated year for the world. We learned that the energy transition is a major driver for the overall climate transformation. We literally saw that it is interlinked with peace and has a positive impact on people, planet and profit. At the THE CLIMATE CHOICE we are therefore honoured that we were able to work on one piece of the puzzle – bringing us towards a regenerative future. These are our 5 highlights:

1. Started working with major new customers, including HiPP and o2 Telefónica
2. Held our 3rd 100 % digital CLIMATE TRANSFORMATION Summit with 64 speakers and 1.000 participants from 59 countries 
3. Launched our new Climate Readiness Check, accessible for companies of all sizes for free to kick off their climate transformation
4. Won the EU ‘Best Digital Solution’ award of the Get Digital Initiative from the European Commission and the European DIGITAL SME Alliance
5. Süddeutsche Zeitung, Gründerszene, t3n, Berliner Morgenpost, Beschaffung aktuell and many more shared our work

Our biggest ‘THANK YOU’ goes to you, Climate Champion! If you are reading this, you are dedicating your valuable time to make this climate transformation a positive one. Whether you are Sustainability Manager, Procurement Expert, or Tech Champion: You are on a mission to strive together with us for an economy that allows the world to stay below 1.5 degree. Let’s start the new year with the same energy and even more climate action. Cheers to 2023!

Your #TeamClimate

THE CLIMATE CHOICE

Prioritizing Climate Transparency in the Technology sector

Interview partner: Karli Cumber is responsible for any marketing, social media communications, and sustainability related activates for Footprint Technologies. The Berlin start-up develops an AI based technology that enables users to always find the perfect fit for selected apparel during online shopping. In this way, Footprint Technologies provides online retailers with a solution to reduce the high number of returned products, and thus saving CO2 and costs.

In an interview with THE CLIMATE CHOICE, Karli shares Footprint Techologies’ challenges and progress in implementing their own climate transformation and how the Climate Readiness Check has helped them.

Can you briefly introduce yourselves to our CLIMATE Community?

At Footprint, our greatest climate goal is to reduce the amount of CO2 emissions related to returns and reshipments in the footwear industry. Our challenge is to reduce negative environmental effects caused by the processes of shoe returns, specifically due to improper fit. We have started in the children’s shoe segment and this year we are starting to make our way into the adult shoe segmentation. Our services offer a foot measurement technology, which is intended to find the correct-size fitting shoe based on the exact dimension of the shoes’ manufacturing. In 2021, we published our first ‘Sustainability Report’ for the company, where we discussed our climate commitments and partnerships such as with The Climate Choice, as well as reevaluate our current practices. This includes our internal climate code of conduct, to best support our overall climate mission.

What are the biggest climate-related challenges you face in your daily lives?

As we are mostly working digitally, also remotely, we don’t necessary encounter too many climate related challenges on a daily basis, such as transport or paper printing/usage. But because we are a green-minded company, in our Sustainability Report we summarize the day-to-day activities which support our climate mission. Some of these include our energy consumption of our software, mobility, team learning, and event participation. Overall, we make it a priority to choose more environmentally friendly options when available, and create a welcoming space for learning and open dialogue within our team. Additionally, we provide opportunities and encourage the team to learn about sustainable options, for them to pursue a sustainable lifestyle outside of work.

Together we carried out the Climate Readiness Check. What was your motivation?

Our motivation to conduct the Climate Readiness Check was to get insights on where our company currently stands at with our climate efforts and to increase our score as a company.

What were the most important lessons you learned?

From the results of our Climate Readiness Check, we learned that we are extremely transparent when it comes to our climate efforts. While this factor may seem obvious for a company that specializes in technical solutions, we find that our transparency is something that can serve as a model throughout our industry. Other than that, we also took note of the areas for improvement as we continue to look forward. We have learned, there are many different areas that are necessary to be considered during a Climate-Scoring.

What are the best practices that you would like to pass on to other organizations?

We would encourage other organizations to prioritize transparency and enable positive climate thinking. We recognize that it is important to consider the environment in our work solutions and moreover to implement this commitment as an integral part of our values. We want to drive forward change in our industry and encourage future partners or collaborators to think the same way. As technology has the favorable quality of constantly being ready to adapt, also our climate actions should be adaptable.

You want to know more about the Climate Readiness Check? Do not hesitate if you want to learn how our software service is enabling you to take the next steps forward. Contact us for more information.