A new peer-reviewed paper led by researchers who have advised the UN and the White House argues that corporate carbon accounting is failing to drive real emissions cuts. The authors say more than three-quarters of a company's emissions come from its supply chain, but the data there relies on industry averages that can be off by a factor of ten. This makes the numbers useless for decision making, even though they satisfy compliance requirements. The paper, published in One Earth and backed by Cambridge spin-out Neutreeno, proposes the CSA Principles: emissions data must be credible, scalable, and actionable. Credible means quality metrics show where data can be trusted. Scalable means it works across entire supply chains. Actionable means it points to concrete changes in how products are made. The authors are calling on policymakers and businesses to adopt these principles before the window to act closes.
