United for Net Zero Public Private Collaboration to Accelerate Industry Decarbonization 2025

CASE STUDY 5 ESTAINIUM Association enabling a comprehensive ecosystem for carbon footprint calculation and trustworthy carbon offset mechanisms Challenge Despite being a promising tool with high potential growth, carbon-offset markets and compensation mechanisms need substantial improvements in data quality and transparency, as tools remain today fragmented and disconnected. Solution ESTAINIUM Association initiated a consortium with the Government of the State of Querétaro, Mexico, industries and compensation partners to develop a technology stack enabling accurate carbon footprint calculation, recommendations for emissions reduction and avoidance, and transparency and reliability for carbon compensations through a trustworthy marketplace. Additionally, the platform delivers emissions monitoring and compensation certifications, enabling companies to receive a tax reduction incentive and ensuring transparency and compliance with local regulations. Impact The tool will enable Querétaro’s industrial sector to offset 20% of its emissions using high-quality carbon credits, reducing up to 500 million tons of CO2 annually. The project’s potential extends beyond, as it delivers a scalable and replicable blueprint; seven nations and states in Latin America and Africa have already expressed their interest in rolling out this ecosystem. Sources: Consultation with ESTAINIUM Association; Watson, A., M. R. Corzo, L. P . B. Pérez-Arce, R. J. T. Hernández, et al. (2024). Comprehensive Carbon Ecosystem: A Seamless Solution for Corporate Compliance. ESTAINIUM Association. Opportunity 5: Proactively support net-zero solutions implementation across your value chain As of 2024, SMEs are the backbone of communities and economies around the world, comprising 90% of business globally, employing 70% of the world’s workforce and contributing to over 50% of global gross domestic product (GDP).15 However, despite their collective impact, small businesses are often among the most vulnerable to change and disruption. Public-private collaboration can play a pivotal role in unlocking key barriers to value chains’ decarbonization, both at the upstream and downstream stages. These collaboration mechanisms include: –Bridging knowledge, finance and technical gaps through increasing adoption of net- zero decarbonization levers and technologies throughout value chains. Notably, this significantly enhances the provision of support to SMEs to access the resources and advice they need to understand and implement net- zero solutions. –Planning and developing the needed “green” skills through appropriate training and qualifications schemes. For example, Intel collaborated with the Government of Malaysia to fund an AI-powered online education platform to build awareness of energy literacy.16 –Raising consumer awareness for sustainable consumption and improving information quality and launching appropriate campaigns –Removing regulatory barriers (e.g. fast-track approval schemes) for greener products or infrastructure, creating data and regulatory support in free trade zones that allow for broader data transparency and shared infrastructure Case study 6 illustrates how an industrial association has developed a dedicated training and knowledge-sharing programme to drive supply chain decarbonization. Case study 7 showcases how public and private stakeholders can partner to implement supply chain decarbonization at scale. United for Net Zero: Public-Private Collaboration to Accelerate Industry Decarbonization 18