Our mission at Combient Pure is to drive low carbon and circular business transformation through multi-company collaboration. To track progress in decarbonization among the Combient Network companies and to identify shared pain points of value chain emission reduction, we launched a new annual survey in Spring 2024: State of Value Chain Decarbonization.
The survey explores the emission profiles of Combient companies, their existing emission reduction targets, the measures they take to achieve said targets and the challenges they face in the decarbonization journey. 21 Combient companies answered the survey, presenting around two thirds of the target group.
Over 80 % of the respondents have set Scope 3 emission reduction targets
For most of the Combient companies that answered the survey (80%), purchased goods and services present one of the largest Scope 3 emission categories. Also, use of sold products and upstream transportation and distribution were mentioned as major emission sources. The same categories were said to be also the most challenging ones when it comes to reducing Scope 3 emissions.
Over 80 % of the respondents have set Scope 3 emission reduction targets and almost 60 % of those that have set targets, have embedded them in top management’s general performance targets.
All the companies that have set Scope 3 emissions reduction targets have set specific targets for purchased goods and services. Over 80 % have set targets for upstream transportation and distribution, a bit over 71 % for fuel and energy-related activities and 65 % for use of sold products.
Insights into Combient Network Companies’ Scope 3 Emission Reduction Efforts
To get a better understanding on the progress of Scope 3 emission reduction work we investigated what kind of practices the companies have already implemented and what are the biggest challenges they’re facing when trying to reach their Scope 3 emission reduction targets.
Regarding the already implemented practices, five categories were mentioned the most among the respondents:
A bit over 70 % of the respondents have trained their employees and adopted low carbon and circular product design to reduce their scope 3 emissions.
62 % of the respondents have prioritized suppliers based on emission data, shared product related emission knowledge to their customers and done improvements in operational efficiency in order to reduce scope 3 emissions.
When it comes to challenges in reaching the targets, over half of the respondents mentioned the prioritization of supplier selection based on emission data and 30 % said emission reducing co-innovation with suppliers or customers as well as low carbon and circular product design are challenging.
Empowering Combient Companies in Emission Reduction Efforts
Based on the survey results and the discussions had with Combient network companies on the challenges and needs, we at Combient Pure have put together a Scope 3 Decarbonization Accelerator to support Combient companies in their Scope 3 emission reduction work.
Running from September 2024 to June 2025 the Accelerator offers participants peer-to-peer sharing on Scope 3 related challenges and opportunities between Combient companies, leading examples on state-of- the-art Scope 3 practices and tools and templates to take Scope 3 work forward in the companies.
In the accelerator the Combient companies will explore four different modules:
Scope 3 emission related regulation
Scope 3 emission data collection and management
Supplier and customer emission reduction
Scope 3 decarbonization business impact
Interested in joining the Accelerator?
If you are part of the Combient Network and would like to know more about joining the Scope 3 Decarbonization Accelerator, please contact us and let’s have a chat!
Marika Määttä, Head of Combient Pure, marika.maatta@combient.com
