CSRD is only the beginning. In this episode, Dr. Pratik Vinayak Gholkar, PhD, explains why downstream companies are increasingly turning to their suppliers for product-level emissions data – and why this trend is accelerating beyond regulations.
In the video, you’ll learn about the drivers behind Scope 3 demands, what it means for your business, and why calculating your product footprint is no longer optional – even if CSRD doesn’t apply to you directly (yet).
About this video series: The Supplier’s Video Course to Scope 3 Data This is part of a 2-part video series created by Ecochain, designed specifically for mid- to large-sized suppliers. Hosted by Dr. Pratik Gholkar, the course covers everything you need to know about Scope 3 requests, product carbon footprints, and how to respond in a scalable, cost-effective way – without needing in-house LCA experts.
Who it’s for: Suppliers across manufacturing, food & beveragage, construction, retail, and beyond, facing increasing demands for emissions data from customers and partners.
What you’ll learn:
- Why Scope 3 pressure is rising upstream
- The business case for owning your product footprints
- What you need to know about PCFs, EPDs, and Digital Product Passports
- How to confidently respond to data requests (without the chaos)
Video Transcript:
Looking at the current scenario of sustainability and how it is evolving, the one quote which I always remember is: The more you sweat during peace, the less you bleed in war.
That’s a completely risky mindset to think that there is still time, and I’m just a small player and these guidelines do not apply to me.
I’m Dr. Pratik Gholkar. I did my PhD in sustainability lifecycle assessment for renewable hydrogen production. It was sponsored by JSW. They wanted to have a vision, for the future furnace, which is heated using hydrogen. So I pursued my PhD, in Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. And Monash University, Australia.
So before Ecochain, I have worked with multiple Fortune 500 companies. But, there was this advertisement for leading the knowledge group. Being a PhD researcher, knowledge is something which I crave for. I saw this role as an opportunity to drive some initiatives. And to lead a group where we can drive new horizons in LCA, look for some new opportunities. Then I appeared for this interview t o join Ecochain.
Looking at the current scenario of sustainability and how it is evolving, the one quote which I always remember is: The more you sweat during peace, the less you bleed in war.
What it actually translates to in the domain of sustainability is: It’s a time of peace because there is a delay because of Omnibus package in the compliance to CSRD, but that does not mean CSRD is dead.
It’s a time for small companies to prepare themselves for something big that is coming up. And big companies are gonna ask them about their suppliers, about their Scope three emissions. This is a time for these companies to prepare for their carbon footprint calculations.
CSRD and Omnibus are the two buzzing words in the domain of sustainability recently. CSRD has been a buzzing word since the past two or three years omnibus is a recent package which is released by the EU to support small industries, which slightly delays the compliance towards CSRD reporting.
But the Omnibus package also focuses on the recommendations by Draghi. One of the key recommendations in those reports is Decarbonization & Innovation. Which indirectly or directly relates to the calculation of your lifecycle assessments of products.
So it is indeed important to remember, although omnibus is there, we have to focus on lifecycle assessments of our products. That’s a completely risky mindset to think that there is still time, and I’m just a small player and these guidelines do not apply to me.
Why I say this is because for now you can think as you are a small entity, but soon the companies which you supply your products to, will start requesting these lifecycle assessments or product carbon footprints of your products. Because they are still regulated by CSRD guidelines and you should be prepared. If you’re not prepared for that, either they will drop you from their suppliers or you will have to rush it with some wrong data assumptions and calculations and there will be no time for it.
Despite the delays, the scope three requirements are not going to slow down. There are multiple reasons for it. We have clients like Unilever who are now asking their suppliers to provide the carbon footprints of their supply chain because they are mandated by CSRD guidelines to provide their Scope three data.
So that’s why I’m saying, the Scope three data might be delayed but not slowed down because of the drivers of the big companies. Another very important reason for it is in the textiles. They realize that more than 80% of the Gen Z customers are actually going for sustainability choices while buying their textile products.
So if you are one of them and you still really think that it is not for me, then you’re missing out in the game.
There are different industries which are requesting for Scope three Data for Carbon or the complete lifecycle assessments. For example, in construction, EPDs are becoming mandatory for tendering. So if you are in a construction sector in Netherlands, for example, you have to have your EPDs in place.
To file for a tender. Same goes in, the food sector big companies like Unilever, for example, what I mentioned earlier, it’s FMCG company, which is asking their suppliers to provide scope three data. That’s a part of FMCG. Big automobile companies are now moving slowly towards being more sustainable.
And they need all the suppliers to give them PCFs. For example, Volvo, they have a commitment to be sustainable or net zero. So they’re asking their suppliers to provide them with the data. t hey want in terms of, either carbon footprinting or complete lifecycle assessment, depending on the sector they are in. So retailers are actually also requesting this information. But, retailers will request this information in a slightly different format, something called as DPP but remember, lifecycle assessment is a methodology and DPP, PCFs, these are the outputs of it.
So LCA serves as a basis, and retailers will also ask them for all of this information too in the future.
How does this come into practice of the sales and procurement processes? You see that procurement managers or sales managers are indeed asking you for the PCF data lifecycle assessment data of your products. That is majorly because when they perform the product lifecycle assessment of their product, they understood that between 50 to 80% of their carbon footprint is indeed from the supply chain.
And they have an ambition to be net zero by a certain deadline. The best way to practice that is control the procurement where you resource your materials, which are more sustainable.
In the supplier’s organization, when someone asks for the Scope three data, it usually lands on the table of the sustainability manager or the sales team of the supplier organization. It usually starts with the request Which you get from your customer. Check: What do they want? For example, if you are in a construction company, probably your customers are looking for EPDs. If you are in FMCG companies, your customers might be looking for a product carbon footprint. Once you get your goal set, then look for the data.
That’s a step two. LCA is governed by the data that you have. Try collecting the data. Once you have the data that is required for the lifecycle assessment of the product, then there is a third step where you set up an internal committee which can perform the lifecycle assessment using various tools that are available in the market.
For example, like Ecochain,, where you can use the software to do the lifecycle assessment. And you generate the reports that you can give to your customers.
Making the choice of the software is one of the critical steps in performing a lifecycle assessment. Why someone should choose Ecochain Mobius or Helix software the first thing is Ecochain has built their softwares for the business users, which means you do not need an expert internal user to use those softwares.
Ecochain usually trains you initially and then gives you a complete freedom to perform lifecycle assessment of your product. Of course, we are there to hand hold you throughout the journey if you need any help. We also offer some experienced consultancy to our clients wherein they can ask us about the niche or the tricky problems in lifecycle assessments.
And the third reason why one should choose Ecochain Mobius or Helix, is because: We offer the solutions for the single product as well as if you have a product portfolio of say a hundred or a thousand products. Suppliers, if the think that they do not have to start early, they will definitely miss out on, being on the supplier’s list of a client.
Because they don’t have a product carbon footprint. There is another side to it as well. If you don’t start early, then at the end moment you might have to hire a consultant, which becomes expensive. Whereas if you start early with a company like Ecochain where we can help you out in getting your data correct, fixing the errors in your data, analyzing it up prior, before you get it verified by an reviewer.
So it is always better to start early. If you look at LCA, there is no scope now to decide if it is early or it is late. We are already late. If you consider the global warming and things like that, and if a company thinks that it is early now. I think that’s a totally risky mindset. The advantages of looking at LCA is product innovation.
So the moment you start investing in LCA, you understand where the hotspots lie in your product that help you to reinvent and reinnovate. That keeps you ahead of the race. For example, there is a carpet company which started investing in a lifecycle assessment 10 years back, and now they’re ahead of the company when they make the green claims.
So that’s the advantage what I’m talking about when you invest early in LCA. The one question which I often get, or very frequently asked by suppliers is: What is one thing we should start with if I want to start my LCA journey right now? I have two advices for them. Choose a product and start small. Taking the first step in LCA is important. Collect the data. Choose that one product, which is your highest selling product, and start collecting the data.These two steps are the first steps I always advise any company to take. Starting small is the key.
We would love to hear from you. How are you handling Scope three data requests from your clients and how are you preparing for it?
