MASSIV+: Cracking the code for measuring scope 3 emissions

When it comes to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the indirect emissions from an organisation’s value chain often make up the lion’s share of its total carbon footprint. Yet these “scope 3” emissions are often the most difficult to measure and abate. One group of companies has come together to take on the challenge. 

Sweden-based global corporates, including Sandvik, IKEA and Volvo Cars, formed MASSIV+ as a cross-industry partnership to drive a systematic and simplified process around collecting and validating emissions data. The goal? To set a new standard practice that makes it easy to be compliant when reporting GHG emissions throughout the value chain.

To find out more, we turned to Mats Lundberg, Head of Sustainability at Sandvik, a global engineering group and one of the companies participating in the MASSIV+ initiative.

What does corporate sustainability mean for Sandvik, and what does the strategy look like?

Our view on sustainability is deeply connected to business opportunities, focused on adding value and providing innovative sustainable solutions for our customers and society. We want to be a positive force in shaping the industries of the future, helping our customers make a sustainable transition in the areas of mining, rock processing and component manufacturing through the solutions we provide. Sandvik has committed to science-based targets for reducing GHG emissions by 50% by 2030, with 2019 as the base year, and to reduce absolute scope 3 emissions by 30%. Our commitment also includes becoming net zero by 2050.

What are the main challenges you’re facing when it comes to emissions tracking and reporting, specifically regarding scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions?

The data quality of scope 1 and 2 is good and more mature in its reporting. On the other hand, the data for scope 3 takes many months to collect in a large, global corporation, and it’s simply not accurate enough. 

The emission factors used to calculate scope 3 are often generic and not specific, built on approximations and averages. Inflation and currency factors can have a significant impact. Depending on which supplier you use for your emission factor database, the output can differ on the same input. What’s more, the level of detail on what is invoiced is often lacking, making it impossible to assign the right emission factors, and leading to large errors. 

If you are in luck and get hold of the “actual” data, the quality and availability of the supplied data, both from upstream and downstream sources, are still uncertain. As a result, scope 3 data can be used to identify “hot spots,” but is not recommended for further use as of now.

How does MASSIV+ aim to solve the emissions measurement and tracking issues? 

MASSIV+ grew out of the ambition of solving the issue of inaccurate scope 3 data by finding a new way of calculating it, other than the traditional method of using emission factors. The basic idea is that if every actor in a value chain discloses their scope 1 and 2 emissions, it would be possible to derive the scope 3 emissions for all parties involved with much greater accuracy. Several Swedish companies share this vision and have come together in the MASSIV+ project. Microsoft is contributing with the technical knowledge, for example, on data sharing, and the other member companies are contributing with knowledge regarding GHG emissions data collection and the related challenges.

Do you see additional benefits arising from increased visibility, tracking and measuring of emissions beyond the reporting side? 

If every company would use the MASSIV+ methodology, sharing their scope 1 and 2 data, combined with blockchain to link the value chain, we would all get a much more accurate scope 3 value. This would enable us to almost instantly calculate our scope 3 emissions, in contrast to the months of painstaking work required today. We could potentially calculate our scope 3 emissions on a daily basis instead of annually. In an automated future, it would be possible to evaluate the progress on individual value chains related to a product, for example, if changes occur. You would be able to easily identify the hot spots and initiate collaboration on how to improve the footprint for that product. 

In a perfect world, what would the setup for emissions tracking look like?

Each company, or “beacon” in the context of blockchain, would collect its data on a product level and transparently share it in the ecosystem of beacons. Then blockchains ensure the calculation of accurate value-chain data. AI and advanced analytics are applied to the data. This data-driven approach improves current data, making it possible for companies to take action to mitigate their indirect emissions in specific value chains.