Recorded live from London Climate Action Week, Ollie and Tom reflect on one of the busiest and most important weeks in the Scope 3 calendar, unpacking the conversations, frustrations and practical ideas that are shaping the next phase of supply chain decarbonisation.

The episode explores why so many practitioners are asking whether they are becoming "busy fools", how evolving guidance from the SBTi and GHG Protocol is influencing corporate decision-making, why procurement is taking a more prominent role in Scope 3, and what Ollie believes needs to happen to turn ambition into action.

Tom also catches up with Luke Abbott from Equipoise, to discuss the rapid growth of the Scope 3 Procurement Training, which was co-created with more than 250 members of the Scope 3 Peer Group. Luke explains why procurement teams needed a dedicated learning pathway, shares early results showing a 39% increase in learner confidence, reveals how leading global companies are embedding the training across their procurement functions, and previews new programmes for suppliers, executives and nature and biodiversity.

Back in London, Tom speaks with Cerian Atwell, Sustainability Lead at Marks & Spencer, about what it really takes to engage suppliers at scale. Cerian explains how M&S identifies its highest-impact suppliers, why sustained engagement matters more than one-off initiatives, how collaboration with other brands is accelerating progress, and why the next challenge is helping suppliers move beyond quick wins towards deeper decarbonisation investments.

The episode also features Liam Salter, CEO of Reset Carbon, who shares lessons from more than 16 years working with manufacturers across Asia. Liam explains why supplier decarbonisation only succeeds when there is a compelling commercial case, how renewable energy opportunities are rapidly expanding across Asian markets, and why carbon programmes can become the foundation for wider improvements in water, waste and environmental performance.

Along the way, Ollie and Tom discuss:

• Why business cases matter far more than inspirational case studies.
• The growing importance of coordinated customer signals from procurement teams.
• The rise of practical collaboration around industrial heat, renewable energy and supplier decarbonisation.
• Why supplier engagement must be tailored country by country across Asia rather than treated as one region.
• What's coming next for the Scope 3 Peer Group, including New York Climate Week, the October Supplier Decarbonisation Summit and a major push to help more organisations move from planning to implementation.

While 160 Scope 3 practitioners are gathered in Chicago this week for the Scope 3 Peer Group Strategy Days, the rest of the community can still get a front-row seat.

This latest episode of The Scope 3 Podcast is effectively a Chicago special.

Not only has Ollie been busy hosting one of the biggest gatherings of Scope 3 practitioners anywhere in the world, he’s also been roaming around the Windy City with a microphone, capturing conversations with some of the people shaping what happens next in supply chain decarbonisation.

On this episode you'll hear from:

• Simon Geale (Proxima)
• Emma Friedl (3Degrees)
• Sam Schwartz (Center for Green Market Activation)
• Zach Bathen (Watershed)
• Dr. Sreedevi Rajagopalan (MIT Sustainable Supply Chain Lab)
• James Lee (Regeneron)
• Kate Joyce (Veolia)

And among the topics discussed:

✅ What procurement leaders are really prioritising right now – and why sustainability has slipped behind volatility, resilience and cost pressure.

✅ The practical reality of supplier engagement: carrots, sticks, incentives, segmentation and what actually works.

✅ The growing debate around market mechanisms, book-and-claim systems, renewable energy procurement and whether companies can invest with confidence under the evolving SBTi framework.

✅ Why some practitioners believe spend-based hotspot analysis is sending companies to the wrong suppliers – and what they should be looking at instead.

✅ The challenge of moving from emissions data to actionable supplier strategies.

✅ What companies are asking about renewable fuels, biogenic emissions and the implications of the latest standards developments.

✅ Why the metals value chain remains one of the biggest decarbonisation opportunities hiding in plain sight.

A big thank you to the team at Watershed for supporting this episode and helping make these conversations possible.

🎧 Remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This week, Ollie, Tom and Dexter unpack a series of major developments across the Scope 3 landscape, from McDonald’s admission that it is unlikely to achieve its 2030 value-chain emissions target, to Electrolux surpassing its science-based targets years ahead of schedule.

The conversation also explores AstraZeneca’s Clean Heat programme, for which Ollie was recently interviewed by Forbes, and the growing momentum behind collaborative approaches to industrial heat decarbonisation. They are updates on supplier heat programmes, renewable energy initiatives and new efforts to use collective customer demand to accelerate decarbonisation across major packaging suppliers.

The team also tackles a growing issue that many practitioners are quietly wrestling with: data quality. Dexter argues that improved data inevitably leads to re-baselining, and that companies need greater confidence from standard setters that revising historical emissions data should be viewed as progress rather than failure.

The first guest this week is Chris Low, Head of Sustainability Procurement and Packaging at Haleon and the recently crowned Scope 3 Peer of the Year.

Chris provides an update on one of the most ambitious supplier decarbonisation programmes currently underway. He explains how Haleon’s REV initiative is designed to source renewable electricity across its wider value chain, reaching beyond direct suppliers into tier two, three and four suppliers. By combining renewable energy procurement, tax credit mechanisms and market-based instruments, Haleon hopes to reduce supply chain emissions while creating a positive business case rather than additional cost.

Chris also chats through the challenge of maintaining supplier engagement at scale, the role of internal carbon pricing, and a new approach that shifts supplier engagement from ‘asks’ to ‘deals’. Rather than simply requesting emissions reductions, Haleon is exploring commercial arrangements where future business growth, contract commitments and demand signals are directly linked to supplier decarbonisation actions.

In the second half of the show, Tom speaks with Professor Christian Heinrich, Co-Founder of carbmee.

Unlike many climate technology founders, Christian’s background is in procurement, supply chain planning and enterprise software rather than sustainability. He explains why that perspective led carbmee to focus on operational integration rather than standalone carbon dashboards.

The discussion examines why supplier engagement remains one of the biggest bottlenecks in Scope 3 programmes, why questionnaire-led approaches often fail to scale, and why procurement teams need better visibility into supplier emissions before meaningful conversations can take place.

Christian also shares his views on primary data, activity-based accounting and the challenges of creating genuinely useful product carbon footprints. He argues that many organisations underestimate the complexity of supplier engagement and that accurate activity-based emissions data is becoming increasingly important not only for climate reporting but also for regulations such as CBAM, EUDR and packaging legislation.

References mentioned during the episode include:

• McDonald’s announcement that it is unlikely to achieve its 2030 Scope 3 emissions target.
• Electrolux surpassing its 2030 science-based climate targets ahead of schedule.
• Forbes coverage of AstraZeneca's Clean Heat programme.
• Haleon’s Renewable Energy in the Value Chain (REV) approach.
• The Scope 3 Peer Group Tools Intelligence Report.
• WRAP's updated Scope 3 greenhouse gas reporting guidance, discussed on Footprint’s Small Print podcast featuring Hamish Forbes.

🎧It’s another packed episode. Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This time, Ollie, Tom and Dexter get into the messy, fast-moving world of Scope 3 tools – and what the new Scope 3 Tools Intelligence Report reveals about buyers, vendors and the reality behind the dashboards.

Nick Donoghue, the brains behind Scope3Navigator.com and the analysis for the report, joins the show to unpack what Scope 3 practitioners are really saying: why big RFPs often miss the point, why most large businesses are still using multiple tools, why data still does not flow properly between systems, and why price is only one part of the real cost of implementation.

The group also digs into AI, chatbots replacing dashboards, consolidation, product-level data, and why sustainability software cannot be sold like ordinary SaaS.

Then, Ollie sits down with Laura Santiago Subero and Aurélie Fidalgo from Suntory to talk about Scope 3 from inside a major global drinks business. It’s a practical conversation about procurement, supplier maturity, internal collaboration and how Suntory is building supplier engagement across ingredients, glass, packaging, logistics, regenerative agriculture and more. The pair explain how they are building bridges between sustainability and procurement, why they use “maturity mountain” models with suppliers, and why Scope 3 tools need to be simple, standardised and scalable if they are going to work in the real world.

Finally, Tom speaks to Michael Fernandez-Ferri, co-founder of VELA, about wind-powered freight and why the future of shipping might borrow more from ocean racing than container shipping. Michael explains why VELA is building a modern sailing cargo trimaran, how it aims to sit between air freight and sea freight, why pharma, luxury, cosmetics, wine and spirits are early target markets, and how wind, solar, hydrogen and green refrigerated holds could help move high-value goods across the Atlantic with far lower emissions.

🎧 It’s another packed episode. Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This episode features two very different conversations, but both land on the same core question: how do companies actually make Scope 3 decisions in the real world when cost, speed, suppliers, engineering, data quality, and commercial pressure all collide?

First up, Ollie speaks with Amanda Martins, Head of Sustainability at Williams F1 Racing. Amanda brings a procurement and supply chain mindset into sustainability – and it completely changes the conversation. Instead of focusing purely on frameworks and reporting, she talks about supplier maturity, operational decision-making, multidisciplinary teams, and why sustainability teams need to add value rather than create noise.

The discussion explores:

• What Scope 3 looks like inside a Formula 1 team

• Why procurement professionals are often best placed to drive decarbonisation

• The challenge of forecasting emissions in a hyper-fast-moving environment

• Supplier engagement in highly competitive and IP-sensitive industries

• Building teams capable of turning sustainability ambition into execution

• Why ‘getting sh*t done’ matters more than sustainability theatre

Then, Tom sits down with Spencer Brennan, founder and CEO of Neutreeno, a Cambridge spinout using engineering intelligence to help companies reduce emissions and costs simultaneously. Spencer explains why industrial decarbonisation is being held back by a focus on reporting over action, and introduces the idea of “action-grade data”: information that is credible, scalable, and good enough to make real operational decisions quickly.

That conversation covers:

• Why Scope 3 has become stuck as a reporting exercise

• The tension between speed and accuracy in emissions data

• The risks and limitations of AI-generated emissions modelling

• How manufacturers can reduce emissions through material and energy efficiency

• Why supplier engagement still remains one of the biggest blockers

• The commercial case for decarbonisation through performance, resilience, and cost reduction

Elsewhere in the episode:

• Roee Goldberg from Atmospheric AI joins the show to discuss the Strait of Hormuz crisis and what it reveals about supply chain transparency, petrochemical pricing, resilience, and procurement intelligence. He has produced a fascinating paper on the subject, which is available here

• Ollie, Tom, and Dexter unpack the proposed GHG Protocol changes – and what a 95% Scope 3 reporting requirement could mean in practice

• The team also discuss the launch of the latest Scope 3 Tools Intelligence report, including the explosion of platforms, AI-driven risk tools, and the growing challenge of navigating the market

If you work in procurement, sustainability, supply chain, carbon accounting, supplier engagement, or industrial decarbonisation – this episode is jam-packed with practical insight, honest discussion, and plenty of opinions.

🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

In this episode, Ollie, Tom and Dexter unpack a rapidly shifting landscape – from regulation and standards to the reality of making Scope 3 actually work in practice.

They start by exploring what’s happening across the Scope 3 market right now:

• why regulation like CBAM – the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism – is starting to force real change and drive demand for primary data

• what the latest GHG Protocol updates mean in practice, including the push for 95% coverage and better data quality

• the emergence of new frameworks like the AIM Platform and what they signal about how companies will account for “real world” decarbonisation actions

•  the wave of market consolidation, including major moves from Makersite, SiGreen and Carbon Maps, as the tools landscape begins to mature

They also reflect on new research showing a growing gap: companies are broadly on track for Scope 1 and 2, but still significantly off track on Scope 3 – with 2030 targets fast approaching.

Then, it’s time to revisit the controversial figures coming out of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which suggest Scope 3 reporting could cost as little as $8,000-$20,000. The team dig into why those numbers don’t stack up in the real world, what might be driving them politically, and the risk of oversimplifying what Scope 3 really involves once companies move beyond basic reporting.

Ollie catches up with environmental lawyer and former Navistar sustainability leader Chris Perzan, who gives a grounded, insider view of what’s really happening behind the CARB proposals. They explore how California has effectively become the centre of gravity for Scope 3 regulation in the US, why translating voluntary standards like the GHG Protocol into enforceable rules is so difficult, and the risk that companies default to easier, less accurate approaches like spend-based data. Chris also shares his perspective on the wider regulatory upheaval in the US, including major rollbacks in federal climate policy and what that could mean for companies trying to plan and hit their targets.

In the second half, Tom sits down with William Paddock, founder of WAP Sustainability, for a deep dive into the reality of Scope 3 execution. This is a conversation about what actually breaks once companies move from reporting to action. William explains why “lower carbon” purchasing decisions often fail to show up in Scope 3 numbers, how disconnected tools and methodologies are creating confusion, and why he sees Scope 3 fundamentally as a data and structure problem.

They get into the practicalities of supplier engagement – why most emissions sit with a relatively small number of suppliers, why companies underestimate how much data already exists, and why simply asking for it is often the biggest unlock. The discussion also challenges some of the prevailing narratives in sustainability, arguing that real progress often comes not from big, headline-grabbing innovations, but from better data, better accounting, and smarter procurement decisions.

It’s another wide-ranging episode that moves from policy to practice, from theory to execution – and ultimately asks what it will take to turn Scope 3 from a reporting exercise into something that genuinely drives change.

🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

Ollie (broken rib et al), Tom and Dexter open episode 48 with a discussion on new developments from the California Air Resources Board around the Corporate Climate Data Accountability Act. A key point of debate is the estimated cost of Scope 3 reporting, quoted at $8,000–$20,000, which the hosts suggest is likely understated and politically positioned to help legislation pass. It’s a chat that highlights the wide gap between basic reporting approaches and the far more resource-intensive work of supplier engagement and emissions reduction, alongside growing demand for clearer business cases tied to cost savings and resilience.

Then, Izzy Farnsworth senior associate at PACT, joins the studio to introduce a new white paper focused on how companies can actually use product carbon footprint data. Rather than focusing on calculation, the work addresses the practical challenge of applying uneven, incomplete supplier data. The key shift is from asking whether data is ‘high quality’ to whether it’s ‘fit for purpose’, helping companies make better decisions with imperfect inputs. The white paper is being piloted throughout 2026, with the aim of embedding this approach into PACT’s methodology and broader infrastructure, which enables standardised exchange of product-level emissions data across supply chains.

Phil Cumming then shares his perspective from leading sustainability at The Warehouse Group in New Zealand, drawing on a career that spans the London 2012 Olympics, Kingfisher and Marks & Spencer. He describes how around 90 percent of the company’s impact sits in the supply chain and outlines practical steps being taken, including a supplier carbon engagement programme covering around 300 suppliers and a sustainability-linked supply chain finance initiative with HSBC to incentivise action. He also reflects on New Zealand’s evolving regulatory landscape and the growing importance of peer collaboration, particularly in regions where capability gaps remain.

A central theme of Phil’s interview is that many of the core challenges haven’t fundamentally changed. Supplier engagement remains the top priority, but there is still a lack of consensus on data, tools and methodologies. He argues that progress will not come from solution providers alone, but from peers working together to define shared principles and reduce fragmentation across the market.

The episode then shifts to Liam Salter, CEO of RESET Carbon, which is part of the LRQA group,  a leading global assurance provider operating in over 150 countries. He focuses on what it actually takes to deliver decarbonisation inside supply chains across Asia. He explains that many companies arrive with ambitious targets but no clear plan, and that the biggest barrier is often the absence of a compelling commercial value proposition for suppliers. Without clear incentives linked to business outcomes, suppliers are unlikely to prioritise investment, even where returns are positive.
🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This episode pulls together two sides of the same story – the people asking for change in supply chains, and the people actually being asked to deliver it.

Ollie, Tom and Dexter kick things off with a sharp reality check on why this work matters right now. With energy markets swinging wildly and geopolitical shocks rippling through global supply chains, the conversation shifts from long-term targets to immediate business risk – and the uncomfortable truth that most of that risk sits far beyond your own operations.

From there, the episode splits into two perspectives:

What does this actually look like when you’re a supplier on the receiving end of all those requests? Ollie chats to  John Hale, Chief People and Excellence Officer at Howorth Group, who gives a refreshingly honest account of what it takes for an SME to step into this space – without a sustainability team, without endless resources, and often without a clear roadmap.

A few standout themes:

• The shift from ‘doing the right thing’ to embedding it into core business strategy

• The reality of being asked for more and more data – and figuring it out as you go

• Why SMEs are still underrepresented in the conversation (and why that matters)

• The importance of human engagement over endless surveys

• And a brutally practical truth: most suppliers are still just trying to make it work with what they’ve got

There’s also a clear message for large organisations:  If you want better data and faster progress, simplify the ask, align with peers, and invest in real supplier relationships, not just platforms.

The second half goes deep into a different challenge: even when you have the data… are you actually using it to change anything? Tom chats to Patrick Asdaghi, CEO and Co-Founder of Carbon Maps, who makes it clear – reporting isn’t the problem anymore. The real unlock is making environmental data granular enough to reflect real supply chains, operational enough to influence procurement and R&D, and ultimately, important enough to sit alongside cost in decision-making.

We explore:

• Why most tools stop at reporting – and why that’s not enough

• How product-level modelling reveals opportunities you simply can’t see otherwise

• What happens when you treat environmental impact like a financial variable

• And why the future might look a lot like nutrition labels, but for environmental impact

The big idea: The companies that win won’t just measure impact – they’ll design it out of their products and supply chains.

Links & mentions

• Carbon Maps

• Clean Heat Program

• Dexter Galvin’s analysis on energy risk in supply chains.

🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

Fresh from his time on the slopes, Dexter is back with his fellow hosts Ollie and Tom to explore how businesses are moving from measurement to real transformation across their value chains.

First, Ollie speaks with the team at The Vita Group, a global manufacturer of polyurethane foam used in everything from mattresses to car seats. Natalie Watson (Group Director of Sustainability), Georgie Taylor (Group Sustainability Manager) and Mike Murray (Global Leader in Sustainable Innovation) share how sustainability, procurement and innovation teams are working together to rethink materials, redesign products and build circular supply chains. The conversation reveals how data, supplier partnerships and bold innovation can turn environmental challenges into commercial opportunities.

Then, Tom speaks with Anya Doherty, founder and CEO of Foodsteps, about how better environmental data can transform decision-making in the food industry. From ingredient-level analysis to supplier engagement, Food Steps is helping major food companies understand the impact of what they produce – and how small changes in recipes and sourcing can deliver significant reductions.

Elsewhere on the episode, there’s chatter about:

• Why data quality is becoming critical as sustainability budgets face scrutiny

• The growing importance of supplier engagement and product-level insights

• Debates around product footprinting and why some practitioners are pushing back on criticism of PCFs

• New initiatives helping suppliers learn how to calculate product footprints

Oh, and why the popularity of the Scope 3 Podcast is on a par with niche hobbyist favourite, The Caving Podcast.
🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.

This time on the Scope 3 Podcast:

🔹 Rikke Christensen, director of sustainable sourcing at STARK Group on what real supplier engagement looks like when you stop talking about it and actually bring suppliers into the room. From pharma to construction, Rikke shares 12 years of Scope 3 lessons, including:

• why she once hated carbon footprints

• how to find the right person inside a supplier

• why procurement + sales + sustainability need to be on the same call

🔹 Jack Roswell, co-founder and CEO at Perennial on measuring soil carbon properly. We talk MRV, digital soil mapping, removals vs abatement, the Land Sector Removal Standard (LSRS), and Perennial’s work with Vital Farms, Bayer and Verra’s Scope 3 pilot.

Plus, Ollie and Tom (sans Dexter this time, as he’s hit the slopes with the family) chat:

• Worldly’s expansion into CPG

• Ditch Carbon’s new tool, climatemate.io

• FCA proposals on Scope 3 reporting

• Investor scrutiny of carbon data

If you work in Scope 3, food, agriculture, construction, or supplier engagement – this one’s packed with specifics.

🎧 Enjoy. And remember: all of our previous episodes are available online at www.scope3peergroup.com/podcast.