Energy use across the value chain, from manufacturing components to the power consumed by products in use, often represents the largest source of emissions for industrial companies. However, many companies struggle with effectively decarbonizing energy use emissions, often citing a lack of leverage or ability to influence these emissions. But as 2030 climate targets approach, it is becoming clear that energy decarbonization is not just a sustainability challenge, but a strategic business priority that requires breaking down functional siloes to unlock competitive advantages.
This is the challenge that the Scope 3 Energy Transition Summit, the first event of Combient Pure’s 2026 Scope 3 Decarbonization Accelerator, set out to explore. Held in collaboration with AFRY Management Consulting, the two-day event brought together representatives from 18 Combient Associated Companies to tackle the challenge of reducing emissions from energy use across the value chain.
Upstream energy: Beyond procurement to strategic supplier partnerships
The Summit started off with a look at the state of the energy transition as a whole, with AFRY’s Clemens Hecker highlighting how renewables are now the cheapest electricity option globally. However, primary energy still relies heavily on fossils in many regions. Comparing e.g. the US, Europe and China, it is clear that the energy transition will not happen uniformly, and companies need to plan their Scope 3 strategies with a clear understanding of regional energy realities.
The focus of Day 1 continued to supplier energy use. Steven Baker from AFRY led us through a market perspective, sharing how for suppliers in emerging markets, decarbonization is often a structural market problem rather than a lack of ambition, faced with limited access to Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) and weak credit profiles. Monty Gould from AFRY shared how to turn supplier engagement from a vague ambition into a concrete program. The work starts with systematically mapping key suppliers and their roles in the value chain, embedding and following up on contractual terms for supplier decarbonization, and educating and incentivizing internal teams on climate. A concrete example of this type of collaboration was showcased by Henrik Sundberg, Climate Impact Lead at H&M Group, who shared how H&M is building structured supplier‑side programs for energy efficiency.
Downstream innovation: Aligning sales, R&D, and sustainability on product energy use
On Day 2, the focus shifted to the use of sold products. Right off the bat, AFRY’s Markus Olofsgård laid out an inherent paradox in decarbonization work in this area: while producing and increasing sales of more energy efficient products results in less emissions on a system level, this can actually raise absolute emissions on the company level. With this in mind, key levers like R&D, customer education, and cross-functional KPIs that align sales, procurement, and sustainability teams were highlighted for driving down energy emissions from product use.
We also heard two inspiring cases from the network to showcase how decarbonization and business success go hand-in-hand. Rajan Murugesan, Engineer Specialist from Munters, showcased a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) tool that translates sustainability into financial language, while Rasmus Teir, Director, Decarbonization from Wärtsilä demonstrated how digital optimization software can dramatically increase renewable penetration in microgrids without new hardware investment, highlighting the shift toward outcome-based business models.
No more siloes - deeper internal collaboration can unlock energy use decarbonization and new business opportunities
The Summit concluded with a definitive call to action: driving energy use decarbonization requires a move toward total cross-functional co-creation. True progress occurs when R&D, sales, procurement, and sustainability teams align under shared KPIs and incentive structures. By leveraging storytelling to speak to different functional motivations and using practical, simple but effective tools like energy audits and TCO models, companies can turn energy efficiency from a technical hurdle into a powerful driver for customer retention and market leadership.
This in turn will not only allow the company to move towards its climate targets, but create deeper value chain relationships, drive sales, customer retention and acquisition, enable cost savings, manage risks, and in turn improve competitive positioning.
Thanks to all our speakers and attendees for the great buzz of the two days!
The 2026 Scope 3 Decarbonization Accelerator continues with the State of Value Chain Decarbonization webinar (June 9th), and the Low Carbon & Resilient Materials Summit in Helsinki (September 2nd) - we hope to see you there! (Registration is open only to Combient Associated Companies, via Combient Twin).
For more information on the Scope 3 Decarbonization Accelerator, please don't hesitate to reach out to anna.pakkala@combient.com.
Photo by Jadon Kelly on Unsplash.
