Global Emissions Database CEDA Shows Significant Economy-Wide Climate Progress

Corporate carbon footprints measured using the updated CEDA are a median 15% lower than previously estimated

SAN FRANCISCO, CA & LONDON, UK, Sept. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Watershed, the leading enterprise sustainability platform, today announced an update to its proprietary emissions factor database CEDA (the Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive). The updated version of CEDA shows a median corporate carbon footprint decrease of 15%, reflecting progress in global decarbonization efforts.

To reach this conclusion, Watershed used the new version of CEDA to model emissions footprints for hundreds of companies across dozens of industrial sectors. These results were then compared to the same footprints generated by earlier versions of CEDA.

The decrease in corporate emissions is driven primarily by advances in low-carbon technology and global economic change. For example, between 2018 and 2022 the United States saw a massive uptick in renewable energy adoption and coal power plant retirement, leading to a significant shift in the emissions intensity of the electrical grid. Additional developments included the adoption of electric vehicles, improvements in fuel efficiency, and progress in heating and cooling technology, catalyzed by decreasing green premiums and new government incentives. The updated CEDA also incorporates new methodology that reflects the evolution of carbon data science.

“These findings are tremendous news for global efforts against climate change and should bolster confidence in our collective ability to transition to a climate economy. We are making progress on economy-wide decarbonization,” said Dr. Sangwon Suh, Head Scientist at Watershed. “But progress on low-carbon technology is not a substitute for corporate action. Companies must continue to undertake thorough and intentional sustainability action, beginning with granular, science-backed measurement. We are confident that evolving measurement methodologies like CEDA will illuminate the right next steps for companies as they develop and implement emissions reductions plans.”

CEDA is a collection of 60,000 emissions factors, the figures by which business spend is multiplied to yield the carbon dioxide equivalent figure critical to developing an emissions footprint. CEDA is built into Watershed and commercially available as a standalone database. It is used by hundreds of companies representing industries from finance to manufacturing, including Visa, Dr. Martens, Delivery Hero, and the Carlyle Group. CEDA was first launched in 2000 and last updated using 2018 data. This update uses 2022 data, the most recent year for which complete data is available.

Watershed customers operate across continents and supply chains, and the emissions models they use must reflect the same complexity and global scale. CEDA provides data coverage across 149 countries and regions and 400 industries to encompass the complexity of global production and trade, accounting for significant variance in energy systems and emissions profiles between regions. Single-region emissions models can’t do this, leading to incomplete and inaccurate emissions calculations.

“As we work towards our Net Zero goal, we chose to use CEDA so we are using the most detailed and up-to-date climate data available for our scope 3 emissions,” said Abigail Neary, Head of Sustainability at Aon.

“Knowing that world-class science is behind CEDA gives us confidence in the methodology that powers our climate program. We decided to use CEDA because it more accurately reflects emissions from our predominantly European-based supply chain and provides a more robust baseline for us to track our decarbonization goals,” said Kerri Robinson, Sustainability (ESG) Program Manager at TIP Group.

In addition to the CEDA update, Watershed announced a collection of other releases aimed at advancing the rigor and efficiency of reporting through Watershed.

• Major supplier data expansion: Watershed is integrating 30 million company emissions profiles, allowing users to draw on more granular supplier data for their scope 3 measurements.
• Scope 3 reductions tracking: Watershed is adding new tools to help companies understand and accelerate scope 3 reductions, including supplier maturity scorecards, which rate the sophistication of supplier sustainability programs, and a tracking feature to measure progress to reductions goals.
• CDP reporting API: Within Watershed’s CDP report builder, users will be able to instantly sync their answers to the CDP Portal for submission, accelerating the reporting process. 

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ABOUT WATERSHED: Watershed is the enterprise sustainability platform. Companies like Airbnb, Carlyle Group, FedEx, Visa, and Dr. Martens use Watershed to manage climate and ESG data, produce audit-ready metrics for voluntary and regulatory reporting including CSRD, and drive real decarbonization. Watershed is the platform of choice for companies seeking to reduce emissions, meet customer, investor and regulatory requirements, and modernize their sustainability programs. Watershed customers also have exclusive access to a marketplace of pre-vetted, high-quality carbon projects and groundbreaking virtual power purchase agreements.

CONTACT: Amelia Penniman
Watershed
amelia@watershed.com