On COP31’s Science, Industry and Technology Day, Brad Pleima, CEO of EcoEngineers, an LRQA Company, shares how better carbon data can help industry protect and create value.
Today COP31 turns to science, industry and technology, with a focus on turning research into solutions industry can put to work. Carbon accounting is where all three meet. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) data and independent verification turn a production process into a number that buyers and regulators can trust. Most companies treat that number as an obligation. In my experience, the ones that look closer find an opportunity, because carbon data does three jobs: it meets obligations, it protects value and it can create new value.
Meeting obligations
For heavy industry, the required data is growing. Fuel producers under the US Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) must report it, and the European Union (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) asks importers of steel, aluminum, cement, fertilizers and other hard-to-abate goods to account for the emissions embedded in them. There is no opting out, so the goal is to do it well and at a sensible cost.
Protecting value
Good data also protects what you already earn. Under the RFS, producers can choose to have their Renewable Identification Number (RIN) credits independently audited through a voluntary quality assurance program. The market tends to pay less for credits that skip it. Two producers can generate identical credits and get different prices because of the data behind them.
Creating value
A product LCA measures the carbon intensity of what you make. Imagine a manufacturer that believes its process uses less energy than its competitors. If verified data shows its product carries 15% lower emissions, it can tell that story to customers, support a premium price, count the reduction toward its own climate targets or, in some markets, sell it as carbon credits creating an additional revenue stream. Each option has a trade-off. Once you sell a reduction, the buyer claims it, and you can no longer market it as your own. Product-level crediting is still emerging, but it is growing across materials, energy and fuels.
Start with what you have
Measuring can also overturn your assumptions. Our teams at EcoEngineers make hundreds of site visits annually, and we assumed offsetting all that travel would be cost prohibitive for the business. Once we measured it, the footprint came to about 250 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), and offsetting it cost roughly US$5,000, much less than our original assumptions.
You don’t need a consultant to begin, however. Document what you already do, identify the gaps and decide why you are measuring: for reporting, targets, customers or risk. Technology makes this easier. Many plants already use smart controls and AI to shift energy use away from expensive peak hours, which cuts costs and emissions together. When the opportunity is clear, bring in specialists to build a strategy and phase the work to fit your budget. Some expect huge leaps in emissions reduction, while improving by 1% or 5% is a real start.
What I want from COP31
Climate challenge hasn’t gone away, even as some commitments slip. Affordability and cost need to sit at the center of climate action, and companies can lead by treating their climate goals as an opportunity and recommitting to the ones that make business sense. Governments can help most by creating supportive policy and removing barriers to progress.