Challenge

BASF, the largest chemical producer in the world, is using PCF data exchange to reduce its Scope 3 emissions. This effort comes in parallel with halving its Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions between 1990 and 2018 and targeting an additional 25% reduction between 2018 and 2030, despite its targeted growth.

Being a value-chain partner to almost all industries, BASF needed to address an important challenge to drive its Scope 3 emissions reduction: the lack of standard methodology and detailed guidelines to calculate and exchange PCF data at the most granular level consistently across different industry sectors, value chains and technology solutions.

Solution

This is why BASF decided to partner with the WBCSD and 60 other companies to develop the PACT Pathfinder Framework, which takes a cross-sectoral approach to helping organizations develop and exchange primary databased PCFs to enhance data reliability and consistency across industries and value chains. Importantly, the Pathfinder Framework builds on existing standards such as the ISO, the GHG Protocol and sectoral guidelines such as Together for Sustainability (TfS) for the chemical industry.

Impact

Since 2021, BASF has been onboarding suppliers in its Supplier CO2 Management Program and requesting primary PCF data. By using the Pathfinder framework, as well as partnering with TfS, BASF has been able to calculate and exchange primary PCF data for thousands of products, with hundreds of suppliers and customers. By the end of 2024, all of the most important suppliers will have been onboarded to supply PCF data.

Building on the learnings from the pilot, BASF is working in close collaboration with PACT

and TfS to scale this crossindustry programme. These activities will lower barriers to entry, upskill suppliers and improve the quality and consistency of the PCFs exchanged. As a result, improved PCF transparency will help to identify GHG reduction opportunities across the supply chain.

Featured in our paper "The “No-Excuse” Opportunities to Tackle Scope 3 Emissions in Manufacturing and Value Chains"