{"id":6614,"date":"2022-11-28T11:22:49","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T03:22:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/incit.org\/?p=6614"},"modified":"2025-06-13T23:23:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T15:23:48","slug":"global-manufacturing-reduce-carbon-footprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/thought-leadership\/global-manufacturing-reduce-carbon-footprint\/","title":{"rendered":"How global manufacturing has progressed in addressing Scope 1, 2, 3 and 4 emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The global manufacturing sector is one of the largest single emitters of greenhouse gasses (GHG) in the world, responsible for <a href=\"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/case-studies\/apac-network-interview-can-manufacturing-rise-to-the-climate-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two-thirds of the world\u2019s total GHG emissions<\/a>. But it\u2019s heartening to note that recent advancements in manufacturing technology and increasing commitment towards more sustainable, eco-efficient processes have helped the industry reduce Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across the board \u2013 and made a start on addressing Scope 4 emissions too.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What are Scope 1, 2, 3 and 4 emissions?<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-35612 alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.incit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/18015128\/image.png.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"858\" height=\"407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/assets.incit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/18015128\/image.png.webp 858w, https:\/\/assets.incit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/18015128\/image.png-300x142.webp 300w, https:\/\/assets.incit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/18015128\/image.png-768x364.webp 768w, https:\/\/assets.incit.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/18015128\/image.png-18x9.webp 18w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\" \/><br \/>\r\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Original source: Greenhouse Gas Protocol <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ghgprotocol.org\/sites\/default\/files\/standards\/ghg-protocol-revised.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>https:\/\/ghgprotocol.org\/sites\/default\/files\/standards\/ghg-protocol-revised.pdf<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><strong>Scope 1<\/strong>: covers direct GHG emissions from sources owned and controlled by the company. Common activities include fuel combustion; physical or chemical processing; transportation of materials, products, waste and employees; and fugitive emissions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><strong>Scope 2<\/strong>: covers indirect GHG emissions caused by the generation of purchased electricity used for Scope 1 activities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><strong>Scope 3<\/strong>: covers indirect GHG emissions caused by upstream or downstream activities in a company\u2019s wider value chain, such as extraction of raw materials (upstream) or waste disposal (downstream). One company\u2019s Scope 1 and 2 emissions are another company\u2019s Scope 3.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\r\n<li><strong>Scope 4<\/strong>: covers emissions avoided due to the use of a company\u2019s product. Unlike Scopes 1-3, the higher a company scores on Scope 4 emissions the better. Scope 4 was introduced to provide a more holistic calculation of a product\u2019s positive climate impact. It is relatively new and is not officially recognised by the GHG Protocol.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Industry 4.0: helping global manufacturing reduce its carbon footprint\u00a0<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Progressions in technology, including the advancement of digital and analytics tools, have resulted in more eco-efficient manufacturing processes and reduced emissions.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>The manufacturing industry is also leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to track, monitor and improve resource use for a lighter carbon footprint.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Several case studies presented by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www3.weforum.org\/docs\/WEF_Global_Lighthouse_Network_Unlocking_Sustainability_Through_4IR.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">World Economic Forum<\/a> illustrate this.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Ericsson\u2019s smart factory in Lewisville, Texas, in the US showcases how manufacturers are integrating green energy and data solutions to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2021\/06\/manufacturing-industry-climate-change-goals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u2018reduce, reuse, recycle\u2019<\/a>, simultaneously cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions while improving productivity.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>On-site solar panels and rainwater cooling tanks reduce the need for purchased electricity (Scope 2), while a 4G\/5G sensor network monitors and analyses energy consumption, automatically powering equipment on or off as required (Scope 1).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>With sustainability-related metrics being increasingly scrutinised by investors, stakeholders and consumers alike, manufacturers have also been paying greater attention to the Scope 3 emissions of their partners, suppliers and distributors.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>To tackle this, Western Digital in Prachinburi, Thailand combined IoT-connected sensors and machine learning technology to track real-time logistics data and develop a shipment and logistics optimiser. They effectively eliminated unnecessary shipments, improved route efficiencies and reduced transport-related Scope 3 emissions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The multi-faceted nature of sustainability in manufacturing<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>While tracking emissions across the end-to-end value chain is highly complex, with multiple tiers of raw materials and sub-components to factor in and Scope 4 emissions even further beyond the control and access of manufacturers, addressing Scope 3 emissions remains one of the most critical ways to reduce the global industry\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>This is especially important as manufacturing supply chain emissions are over 11 times more than operational emissions.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Consequently, the key to more successful reduction of Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions \u2013 and addressing Scope 4 emissions \u2013 is data sharing and transparency.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Global collaboration is needed to share emissions-related information so that manufacturers can better measure and monitor their chain-wide carbon footprint \u2013 and identify the most impactful ways to reduce it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>Learn more about the work that we\u2019ve been doing to help global manufacturers transform to achieve better outcomes for all <a href=\"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/newsroom\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The manufacturing sector is a major emitter of greenhouse gases, which is why manufacturers need to do their part to tackle the climate crisis. How has global manufacturing reduced their carbon footprint to date \u2013 and how can this be accelerated?<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[36,37,38,39],"class_list":["post-6614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thought-leadership","tag-emissions","tag-global-manufacturing","tag-manufacturing-trends","tag-supply-chain"],"acf":{"topic":"sustainability"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6614"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37898,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6614\/revisions\/37898"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/incit.org\/en_au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}