inC2

Part of

Tackle hidden supply chain emissions and never pay for offsets again

MA 2022

Keywords

sustainability, supply chain, decarbonisation, greenwashing

Overview

As companies race to reach their net-zero targets and meet regulatory requirements, they find it hard to track and reduce emissions in their largest source - supply chains. inC2 enables tracking of supplier emissions through its innovative blockchain network that provides robust security and privacy to both customers and their suppliers. Instead of spending on external offset programs, companies can directly invest in the sustainability efforts of suppliers with inC2's carbon pricing mechanism and evidence-based funding plan. inC2 provides dynamic sustainability ratings linked to real-time supply chain data, helping procurement teams source sustainably with reliable and auditable certificates.

Collaboration

The project started 6 months ago with the goal to create services that enable the business to become sustainable and contribute to net zero. With an enhanced understanding of the carbon accounting space, we are excited to prototype solutions that fit the needs of a partner organisation.

If you are a mid-large size company with a net-zero target or an interest in understanding your supply chain emissions. Please reach out to us on the profiles below. We would also love to hear from industry groups & collectives that are looking to lead sector-wide decarbonisation efforts and build resilient supply chains.

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SECTION ONE SECTION TWO STATEMENT SECTION THREE SECTION FOUR

Context

The Global Scope 3 Problem

Emissions by industry are divided into three scopes->

Scope 1: Direct emissions from operations under a facility's control

Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the usage of electricity, cooling purchased from third parties, etc

Scope 3: Supply-chain emissions covering procured products, transport of suppliers and business travel, etc. (Indirect Emissions)

In essence, one company's scope 1&2 is another company's scope 3.

Scope 3 emissions can account for more than 80% of a company's overall emissions. On average, it is 11.4 times greater than a company's direct emissions. Globally, Upstream scope 3 emissions are estimated to be about 23 Gigatons, making it more than the emissions of the top 5 emitters - India, Russia, China, US, Brazil combined.

Why does Scope 3 concern companies?

Challenges

Measuring & Reducing Scope 3

As companies race to reach their net-zero targets and meet regulatory requirements, they find it hard to track and reduce Scope 3 emissions for various reasons -

OPPORTUNITY

Buying carbon offset acts as a license to pollute and does not lead to actual carbon reductions. By tracking and measuring Scope 3 emissions effectively, companies can unlock the potential of insetting to tackle emissions at the source.

Carbon Inset:

Type of carbon offset where emissions are avoided, reduced or sequestered upstream or downstream within the company's own value chain.

Why it is valuable:

In the short term, companies can redirect their budget to insetting as opposed to offsetting.
This means they can pay lesser than the market rate for carbon credit purchases.
In the long run, this is economically sustainable for companies to meet their reduction targets instead of buying costly offsets to compensate for scope 3 emissions.

Solution

What is inC2?

inC2 is a supplier engagement platform that enables reporting, tracking & reduction of supply chain emissions. Built on the blockchain, inC2 provides enterprise-grade privacy and encryption to customers & suppliers on the network. It has the following features

Confidential reporting network

Allows suppliers to pass on essential carbon footprint information to multiple customers whilst keeping business details hidden from the network.

Sustainability ratings & dynamic certificates

Rates supplier sustainability efforts and provides dynamic certifications that are linked to real-time supply chain data, which procurement officers can easily audit & verify.

Reduction Planning Modules & Vendors

Offers industry-specific reduction planning modules to guide the supplier in taking action along with connecting them to verified vendors that can help them undertake sustainability projects.

Supplier Financing with Insetting

Provides debt financing options for decarbonisation projects and allows customers to directly invest in supplier sustainability efforts with an internal carbon price and evidence-based funding plan.

How does it work?

Results

Feedback from experts & industry

"It is a great idea to make everyone in the supply chain accountable for their carbon. While the Waitrose foundation is focused on African farmers, this platform could be super helpful in engaging with our partners in Southern Europe."

Andrew Hadlow, Former Director, Waitrose Foundation

"With your solution, companies can show their investors that they are not only reporting but also taking proactive steps to reduce emissions; that is a very powerful thing."

Shona Tatchell, CEO & Co-founder, Halotrade

"There is an urgent need for collaboration however there is a lot of knowledge politics that prohibits it. If your distributed ledger approach tackles that effectively, then you can apply it to more use cases than just Supply Chains.

Abigail Hird, Head of Design" Knowledge Transfer Network, InnovateUK

Projected Market Size & Impact

SPECIAL
THANKS

Firstly, we would like to thank Terra Carta Design Lab and Nick De Leon for providing us the opportunity and mentoring for the project. We are grateful to our InnovationRCA tutors Albert Demagne and Adam Sutcliffe for their unwavering guidance.

We would like to thank our advisory team for guiding us at different points in the project- James Sainty (Supply Chain Partnerships at Emitwise), Uday Reddy (Co-founder at Carbon removal centre), Serge Isakov (Managing Consultant at Frog)

This project would not have been possible without the contributions of Stuart Lendrum (Sustainability Head,Iceland Foods), Andrew Hadlow (Former Director,

Waitrose Foundation), Shona Tatchell (CEO & Co-founder, Halotrade), Harry Grocott (CEO & Co-founder, Treeconomy), Vanessa Macdougall (Co-founder, xtonnes), Micah Sherer (Coffee Supply Chain Expert, Skylark Coffee).

Lastly, we would like to express our gratitude towards Clive Grinyer and Carolyn Runcie for their continuous support.

Team

Anchit Som

anchit.som@network.rca.ac.uk

Portfolio

Approved

Disha Mittal

disha.mittal@network.rca.ac.uk

07436039873

Portfolio

Approved