Double counting in supply chain carbon footprinting

摘要

Many companies have pledged for reduction of supply chain emissions and some have gone further to have a goal of carbon-neutral or zero-carbon in the coming years. Method, a cleaning products firm, off-sets all emissions of the first-tier suppliers and passes on the savings to them on achieving results. Many companies have to pay for their emissions in European Union, California and some other places. Many emission reductions are achieved by the joint attempt of more than one party. The Carbon Disclosure Project 2011 supply chain report found that 86% of respondents have a collaborative effort to jointly reduce carbon footprints with suppliers, but suppliers face difficulties in allocating their emissions to their multiple customers. Such difficulties should be addressed to have an efficient approach to achieve low emissions. It is important to measure and report carbon footprints for effective reduction of the same. Many standards are available for this that are closely associated with life-cycle assessment (LCA). To allocate the emissions to different partners in a supply chain a general model of joint production of GHG emissions in which the total footprint is divided in to portions contributed by various agencies in the supply chain. The study considers two situations. The first being a social planner that allocates the emissions to individual firms then charges those emissions. In the second case, the carbon leader offsets the supply chain emissions and recoups the costs of doing from he supply chain partners. In the second situation, the carbon leader can ensures commitment to reduce the emissions where as in the former case no company commits a reduction at a desired level (58 Refs.).