IFC and Carbon Trust Join Forces to Tackle Supply Chain Emissions

The IFC is part of the World Bank Group and, for the first time, joins the Carbon Trust to help companies in emerging markets cut carbon emissions and decarbonise their supply chains. A strategic collaboration to help businesses transition towards low-carbon practices and investments in sustainable growth will help the business world answer the urgent call of climate action while still supporting economic development.

A New Push for Decarbonization in Emerging Markets
This is not something taken lightly by emerging markets as the world continues to pressure industries to lower their carbon footprint. Most of these companies lack the financial muscle or technical know-how to effectively decarbonize their operations. The association between IFC and Carbon Trust addresses the gap in low-carbon technologies, green investments, and sustainable practices for businesses in these regions.

By doing this, companies will be able to create proper decarbonization plans for operations. This will also move IFC’s sustainable finance capabilities to big brands operating within emerging markets. The initiative will therefore allow these companies to meet the new net-zero targets while moving towards a more sustainable global economy.

“This is a step towards IFC’s goal of promoting low-carbon, climate-resilient growth while addressing climate change and supporting economic development,” said Wagner Albuquerque de Almeida, Global Director Manufacturing, Agribusiness, and Forestry at IFC.

Promoting Low-Carbon Technologies and Investments
The rationale behind the collaboration between IFC and Carbon Trust is based on their mutual knowledge base for sustainability and decarbonisation. It is a partnership that seeks to make low-carbon technologies more popular and expand investments that can take businesses from one stage to another in transitioning to a greener practice.

This is particularly important for firms operating within developing markets, which are fantastic assets for global efforts towards Net Zero but often have had restricted access to resources or expertise for them to implement this change. A good number of these businesses face structural barriers to accessing finances to decarbonize their operations.

Companies in emerging markets are going to be critical to Net Zero, yet often lack the experience or finance to step up delivery,” said Tom Cumberledge, Associate Director for Business Services at the Carbon Trust. “This partnership with IFC will help companies set Net Zero strategies and get the investment to achieve them.”.

The collaboration will help businesses in manufacturing, agribusiness, and forestry reduce their carbon footprint, productivity, and efficiency using resource efficient supply chain innovations, and stimulate low-carbon investments.
The focus will be on opportunities for innovation in green production methods.
One of the crucial products of such collaboration between the IFC and the Carbon Trust is the development of tools intended to enable companies to better assess and manage their carbon footprint. For instance, the Food Loss Climate Impact Tool is newly launched, allowing companies to derive greenhouse gas emissions resulting from food losses throughout their value chains. This tool provides companies with targeted insight into where their food losses and emissions lie, enabling them to address waste concerns and lower carbon emissions.

The Food Loss Climate Impact Tool is also attempting to foster improvement in food security through its ability to support businesses in optimizing their supply chains, increasing efficiency, and meeting climate objectives. This is particularly essential in emerging markets where food loss remains a significant challenge and addressing it will have a direct effect on improving sustainability and cutting emissions.

The creation of this tool is but one example of how the partnership between IFC and the Carbon Trust is working to bring real solutions for businesses in the search for decarbonizing their activities. Resources will enable companies to be able to measure and take steps to reduce their carbon impact, drive widespread adoption of green practices across a range of industries.

Boosting Economic Growth through Sustainability
While the IFC and Carbon Trust’s focus is on reducing carbon emissions, the partnership is also part of efforts to promote wider economic development in emerging markets. In this regard, it assists firms to position themselves for sustained long-term growth by equipping them with tools, expertise, and funding to decarbonize businesses.

Green investments will assume an essential role in this respect. It will become simpler to access sustainable finance for companies, thus facilitating a transformation toward low-carbon practices and furthering economic development in the very key sectors. The advantages derived from this approach are two-fold: companies may meet their climate objectives while also ensuring competitiveness in the global market.

It particularly demonstrates the need for collective action in addressing climate change. Pooling efforts among IFC and Carbon Trust reflects the pace at which international organizations and businesses, together, accelerate progress towards Net Zero. This is more crucial in emerging markets where the impacts of climate change are most often felt, and where sustainable growth can thus reap significant benefits both for the economy and the environment.

Path to a Low-Carbon Future
In fact, as global efforts to combat climate change intensify, the collaboration between IFC and Carbon Trust is set to play a significant role in helping the businesses of emerging markets reduce carbon emissions and develop sustainable supply chains. The collaboration will promote low-carbon technologies, provide access to sustainable finance, and offer practical tools for measuring and reducing emissions.

Among such efforts, together with Carbon Trust, IFC in collaboration, helps the business sector tread towards a greener future through endeavors like the Food Loss Climate Impact Tool and, more largely, general promotion of green investments. This supports not only the fight against climate change but also economic growth, thus proving that growth and sustainability go hand in hand.

Source:

International Finance Corporation (IFC)

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