Value Chain Approaches
to a Low-Carbon Economy:
Business and Policy Partnerships

This paper is prepared in support of a workshop at the World Business Summit on
Climate Change (Summit) on leveraging value chains to reduce climate impacts and
build a low-carbon economy.

It is widely acknowledged that making significant progress on mitigating the impact of
climate change depends on reducing the impacts of supply chains.A recent McKinsey
study shows that 40 to 60 percent of companies’ total carbon footprints reside upstream
1
in their supply chains,suggesting the scale of the opportunity.Fundamental changes in
consumer behavior, supply chain structure and management, and business models are
2
needed for long-term success. The scope of this challenge is reinforced by a current
knowledge gap: most suppliers do not track or report carbon emissions data; buyers do
3
not control suppliers’ emissions or have access to accompanying data,and there is
disagreement on how to measure and apportion responsibility for supply chain
emissions.