- Reduction & Strategy
- Accounting & Data
45,000 suppliers, one development: CO₂ data is reaching procurement
CO₂ data used to be something for reports. Numbers collected once a year and then largely forgotten. In procurement, they hardly played a role. The focus was on price, quality and delivery time. That is beginning to change. CO₂ data is now appearing in other places. Not as a major requirement, but more in passing. In offers, in follow-up questions, sometimes just as a small addition. In 2025, around 45,000 suppliers were asked to disclose their emissions data. This is not happening without reason. The data is needed – not for reporting, but for decision-making. And this is exactly where more is changing than it may seem at first glance.
What is shifting in procurement
and why CO₂ data is appearing where decisions are made:
What has changed is not easy to pinpoint. There is no clear cut – rather a gradual shift in the background. Companies are increasingly being asked to disclose their emissions – not only at company level, but also for specific products and services.
In the supply chain program of CDP – an international organization supporting companies in disclosing environmental and climate data – around 45,000 suppliers were asked to provide emissions data in 2025. This is no longer a niche topic, but part of everyday procurement processes.
These are rarely fundamental questions. In practice, the focus is on very concrete aspects: Can offers be compared? Are risks assessable? And are the figures reliable enough to base decisions on?
Background – What is CDP?
CDP ist eine internationale Organisation, die Umwelt- und Klimadaten von Unternehmen sammelt und für Investoren sowie Einkaufsorganisationen auswertbar macht. Das Supply-Chain-Programm wird von hunderten großen Unternehmen genutzt, um Emissionsdaten ihrer Lieferanten strukturiert abzufragen.
Where the topic shows up in business
and what it actually means in practice:
This brings the topic closer to day-to-day business operations. It no longer stays at the level of strategies or reports, but appears where decisions are made: in offers, product data sheets and supplier selection processes. Not always mandatory. But increasingly expected.
Many companies are not starting from scratch. There are initial figures, first calculations and usually a good sense of where emissions occur. But in practice, a different picture often emerges. Data is scattered across different places. Calculations work in principle, but not always based on the same logic. And when results are needed again, the process often starts from scratch. Internally, this rarely causes major issues. In interaction with others, it becomes visible very quickly.
Typical situations where CO₂ data appears
➜ as additional information in offers
➜ in product data sheets or technical specifications
➜ in follow-up questions from customers or procurement teams
➜ in supplier evaluation and selection
➜ in tenders and procurement documents
➜ in approval processes for new products or materials
➜ in supply chain requirements
➜ in preparation for audits or sustainability assessments
What it ultimately comes down to
In procurement, hardly anyone questions whether CO₂ can be calculated.
What matters is how well the numbers can be used. Is it clear how they were derived? Can they be compared? Will the same approach be used for the next product? If this works, things become straightforward. If not, it quickly becomes complex.
What emerges is less a technical issue than a structural one. CO₂ data works well in business when it is treated like other product information:
With clear assumptions.
With defined system boundaries.
And with a logic that can be repeated.
Not perfect. But reliable.
What follows from this
CO₂ data is increasingly becoming part of requests, offers and decisions. Not always as a clearly stated requirement. But often as an implicit expectation. And this is where it becomes clear how well companies are prepared: whether data is structured, whether it is transparent, and whether it can be provided again without major effort.
Many companies already have a solid foundation.
What is often missing is not knowledge –
but a structure that works in day-to-day business.
And this is where it becomes worth a closer look
➜ How can CO₂ data be prepared so it can be used directly in offers?
➜ How can values be made comparable?
➜ And how can the effort remain manageable?
Product Carbon Footprint (PCF): making CO₂ data usable at product level
CO₂ data at product level is increasingly becoming part of offers, product information and supply chain requirements. The Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) describes the emissions of a product within defined system boundaries and provides the basis for comparable and reliable data.
For many companies – including those in plastics processing, injection molding, packaging and films, metal processing or construction products – the key question is no longer whether a CO₂ footprint can be calculated, but how product-related emissions data can be used in business operations.
A structured Product Carbon Footprint ensures that CO₂ data is transparent, consistent and repeatable. This allows emissions data to be integrated into offers, compared across products and shared along the supply chain.
natureOffice supports companies in calculating and structuring their Product Carbon Footprint so that CO₂ data is not only available, but actually usable in business.