This week, as the results of the 2010 CDP Supply Chain report are launched, Frances Way -- head of the supply chain program at the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) -- will provide evidence of the progress being made in the management of companies' supply chain emissions.

Today she offers examples of how some leading corporations are already transforming the way they manage carbon in the supply chain, despite the uncertainty and lack of emission reduction targets that came out of Copenhagen. Tomorrow she will take a look at how suppliers are actually performing, highlighting improvements on last year.

The CDP Supply Chain is a collaboration of global corporations who measure beyond their own carbon footprint to their suppliers' carbon emissions, in order to maintain a resilient and sustainable supply chain. The report produced by A.T. Kearney includes responses from 710 suppliers.

The Copenhagen accord left business in a state of ambiguity with no global agreement on emissions cuts. Yet, despite this, it is vital that business continues to work towards improved carbon management and we are already seeing leadership emerge with some companies setting their own industry standards on climate change, particularly when it comes to their suppliers.

Of the 44 global corporations who are currently using the CDP process to communicate with their suppliers, 75 percent already require some form of third-party certification of environmental management from major suppliers, such as ISO 14001 or EMAS. This is expected to increase to 100 percent within the next 12 months.

We are also witnessing a trend in the inclusion of carbon criteria in general supplier evaluation reports or score cards. Johnson Controls has a supplier assessment survey that includes sustainability criteria and asks suppliers if they report to CDP. Walmart's 100,000 global suppliers are expected to complete a supplier sustainability assessment which asks if they publicly reported their GHG emissions, reduction strategy and actions to CDP.

Competing for Dell's Business Through Improved Carbon Management

Another company that has gone a long way to addressing carbon management within its supply chain is Dell. Dell not only expects its suppliers to publicly report emissions and targets, but also to set expectations for their own suppliers. These requirements are included in suppliers' quarterly business reviews and impacts supplier rankings.

The company's carbon management strategy began with a focus on putting its own house in order and taking responsibility for the emissions it could control. The first step was to set an aggressive GHG intensity reduction goal as the business was growing fast. The second step was to focus on maximizing green power purchases. It now has 26 percent of electricity from renewable sources worldwide, which has led to a new target of 40 percent absolute emissions reduction by 2015 based on 2007 levels.

Dell's carbon neutral strategy follows three steps:

1. Maximize energy efficiencies.
2. Buy as much green power as you can.
3. Invest in off-setting to invest in the low-carbon economy.