Leading Transparently: How Dow Manages Emissions Data

An already labyrinthine set of regulatory requirements and reporting standards for carbon emissions data is only expected to grow as bodies such as the SEC tighten up rules on disclosure and reporting. While some sectors may have been collecting emissions data for years, for others, the requirements may come as something of a shock. Further, consumers are increasingly demanding information about the sustainability credentials of companies.

It is becoming increasingly essential for industrial companies to prepare for new levels of scrutiny on carbon emissions tracking and reporting ahead of mandated requirements.

Dow, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of materials such as plastics, industrial intermediates, coatings, and silicones, leads its industry in “reporting and transparency,” according to Julie Moore, Global Energy Work Process Leader at the company.

In this interview, Moore talks about how her company handles emissions reporting, offers her advice to companies getting started with emissions reporting, discusses the challenge of scope three, and explains why gaining commitment from all stakeholders is key to accurate measurement and reporting.

Diana Davis, IX Network: Could talk us through how you handle your emissions tracking and reporting for scope one and scope two at Dow?

Julie Moore, Dow: Dow leads the industry in reporting and transparency. Since our first sustainability report in 2003, we aim to be transparent and use disclosure as a tool for engagement with our customers, our shareholders, our employees, and our community members.

Annually, we issue a comprehensive ESG report which includes all relevant reporting. Our scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions are collected and accounted for in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol from the World Resource Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The company reports greenhouse gas emissions at approximately 100 sites globally, with approximately 25 of those sites accounting for over 95% of our total greenhouse gas emissions.

We include disclosures on our climate related performance and strategies in accordance with the recommendations of the task force on climate related financial disclosures.

In our 2021 report, we have met our 2017 commitment to fully implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate Disclosures (TCFD) framework.

We continue to reference our disclosures to the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board metrics for the chemical sector and the World Economic Forum stakeholder capitalism metrics.

Diana Davis, IX Network: It sounds like Dow has a solid handle on reporting and disclosing scope one and scope two emissions. What would be your advice to people that are just getting started and trying to figure out to gather all this data and start reporting on it? Were there challenges along the way?

Julie Moore, Dow: When we first started, we were reporting on an annual basis. But a few years ago, we moved to reporting monthly. Getting auditable, accurate data more frequently was a real challenge for our team.

Getting the data is a team effort with many people involved. It was important as we moved to more frequent reporting that we ensure that everyone involved understood the reason we were asking them to do this more frequently and be aware of the importance.

From a system standpoint it was also a big endeavor. Most of our scope two data comes from invoices. For metered data, there can be a two month delay on those invoices and we have a huge volume of invoices. We had to ensure that we were getting that information in a timely manner and putting it in a system of record and then ensuring that data repository is available.

Diana Davis, IX Network:  Let's talk about systems and repositories. What technologies and tools are you using to help support these efforts?