TLDR : The Watershed platform has launched Open CEDA, a free global carbon data archive to help companies measure their emissions and develop decarbonization strategies. Covering 148 countries and 400 industrial sectors, this tool provides accurate, country- and sector-specific data to support informed decisions on emissions reduction.
Watershed, a platform specializing in corporate sustainability, announced on May 22 the public release of its global carbon data archive, the Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive (CEDA). Renamed Open CEDA in its free version, this initiative aims to address ongoing gaps in environmental data, especially for businesses and institutions operating on an international scale.
Covering 148 countries, 400 industrial sectors, and representing 95% of the global GDP, CEDA aims to establish a common benchmark for measuring carbon emissions, a now essential condition for developing coherent decarbonization strategies. This initiative is part of an increasingly demanding regulatory context, resembling the CSRD in Europe or the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule in the United States, which require more detailed reporting, particularly on Scope 3.
The latter encompasses all indirect emissions, which are complex to measure and reduce: suppliers, transportation, product use, and end-of-life. While it often constitutes the predominant part of a company's carbon footprint, many organizations still rely on partial references, often centered on a single country or overly aggregated. This approach skews calculations, particularly in international supply chains. According to Watershed, emissions discrepancies can reach up to 70% for the same activity, depending on the country where it is conducted.
Three main factors explain these disparities:
1. The national energy mix: the same industrial process generates much fewer emissions in France (decarbonized electricity) than in India or South Africa (coal);
2. Industrial efficiency: differences in equipment or regulations can significantly influence results;
3. Logistics: longer supply chains induce more transport emissions.
1. The national energy mix: the same industrial process generates much fewer emissions in France (decarbonized electricity) than in India or South Africa (coal);
2. Industrial efficiency: differences in equipment or regulations can significantly influence results;
3. Logistics: longer supply chains induce more transport emissions.
One of the major contributions of Open CEDA is to make these often-overlooked nuances visible. By allowing granularity by country and sector, the tool supports more informed decision-making.
A Concrete Impact on Emissions Reduction
Access to precise data is a lever for structuring coherent climate policies, including for companies not subject to new regulatory obligations, wishing to voluntarily engage in a CSR approach.
An enriched and paid version of CEDA continues to be offered to large companies. Used notably by Johnson & Johnson, Stripe, or BBVA, it has already demonstrated concrete impacts: according to Watershed, one of its clients was able to reduce its supply chain emissions by 30% by directing its purchases towards more virtuous suppliers in Mexico, Canada, and Italy.
Open CEDA feeds into a broader dynamic of climate data standardization on a global scale, still fragmented despite the emergence of standards like those of the GHG Protocol, ISSB, or CDP. The quality, comparability, and openness of data now appear as key conditions for moving from reporting to action.
Open CEDA is now available at openceda.org and via the Amazon Sustainability Exchange.
To better understand
What are the CSRD in Europe and the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule in the United States, and why are they important for companies?
The CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) in Europe and the SEC Climate Disclosure Rule in the United States are regulations requiring companies to provide detailed information on their environmental impacts, including carbon emissions. They are important because they enhance corporate transparency and accountability, supporting more effective climate and decarbonization strategies.
Why is Scope 3 particularly difficult for companies to measure and reduce?
Scope 3 includes all indirect emissions of a company, such as those from suppliers, transport, and end-use of products. These emissions are difficult to measure because they depend on numerous external actors and often fragmented data, complicating the implementation of effective reduction strategies.