Previously thought to be a voluntary responsibility, companies operating across the European Union (EU), Australia, Singapore and listed companies on China's three major stock exchanges are no longer immune to averting Scope 3 reporting obligations.  The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) since January 2023, and Australia's phased implementation of mandatory Scope 3 emissions reporting starting from the 1st of July 2024 - is expected to challenge many existing procurement professions both directly and indirectly worldwide. CSRD is estimated to impact approximately 50,000 European companies.  When we talk about procurement as a service and operating function, preconceptions are evoked about the role of supply chain management purely being about spend control, supply chain resiliency, cost minimisation and compliance. Indeed, procurement plays a significant role in asserting compliance and cost control. But what would this look like in an environmentally regulated landscape? One where environmentalism is no longer voluntary, but compulsory?  With the rollout of CSRD in the EU, environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are no longer about branding a company's tolerance and support for sustainability to appease stakeholders. We're now entering an era of sustainable procurement compliance which is profoundly challenging our conventional presumptions on the role of procurement beyond simply purchasing. Procurement leaders are starting to find that spend control and sustainable procurement compliance are mutually inclusive and supportive of one another. Picture this, you are currently running a sourcing event and your objective is to minimise procured costs. By using DitchCarbon carbon risk ratings, you can select suppliers with a low emissions footprint, and therefore, potentially reduce your Scope 3 procured carbon tax.  Carbon taxes will force finance, auditing and procurement professions to work together to tackle spend on emissions. Demonstrating decarbonisation starts at the supplier selection level and can only be done using accurate, auditable carbon values and calculations. An invoice with a carbon value, can be a good starting point for documenting these emissions. Scope 3 emissions calculators will become a critical part of the procurement ESG toolkit to help users approximate the emissions intensity of that item. In most cases, actual carbon emissions are always preferred over estimated ones because let's face it...who wants to overpay their carbon taxes! However, collecting and reporting Scope 3 emissions is a significant challenge. Deloitte cites that the poor holistic integration of emissions collection technologies throughout a business's ecosystem, lack of tools especially from small to medium businesses to report Scope 3 emissions, poor supplier engagement, poor data quality and reliability, and rapidly evolving regulatory standards - all discourage many business leaders from investing in Scope 3 collection and reporting solutions...or even championing the cause at all.  This was exemplified greatly in the SEC's recent policy backflip (March 2024) to make Scope 3 reporting voluntary. But bear in mind, that many of these SEC-listed, large companies will more than likely, still have to report their Scope 3 emissions if they have a major presence in the state of California (SB-253 Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) or the EU.  The Boston Consulting Group survey found that companies using automated digital emissions solutions were 2.5 times more likely to report their emissions comprehensively. Technology, therefore, is a huge enabler of sustainability compliance.  Despite policy setbacks from the SEC, non-EU companies with a significant EU presence (activities greater than €150 million revenue turnover) are expected to report their Scope 3 emissions to the authorities. Most large US companies with a presence in the state of California are already mandated to report Scope 3 emissions. The Biden Administration is currently proposing to enforce mandatory Scope 3 emissions reporting for its major federal contractors (annual contract values of >$US50 million). With supply chains contributing up to 88% of a company's emissions and 11.4 times that of Scope 1 and 2 primary emissions, it is no wonder that Scope 3 emissions reporting has garnered huge attention among regulators and environmental groups. Fortunately, at SAP Ariba we are making strides and efforts to ensure that our customers remain compliant to Scope 3 reporting obligations and other ESG regulations. For example, enabling supplier Scope 3 carbon submissions and third-party sustainability certifications.    ... View more

I am writing to provide you with a concise summary of the recent SAP Sustainable Footprint Management (SFM) demonstration, specifically focusing on the transport carbon footprint calculation feature. The demo highlighted the system's capability to compute the carbon footprint of transportation activities using various data elements. These include: - Shipment number: Unique identifier for tracking shipments. (Mandatory) - WEIGHT: The Weight of the Shipment (Mandatory) - Source location: The starting point of the shipment. (Mandatory) - Destination location: The final delivery location. (Mandatory) - Delivery date: The scheduled date for the shipment to reach its destination. (Mandatory) - Quantity: The amount of product being transported. (Mandatory) - Mode of transport: The method by which the shipment is being moved (e.g., truck, ship, train). (Mandatory) - Product: The specific item or items being shipped. (Optional) Each of these Data Elements could be extracted from SAP ECC or SAP S/4 HANA Embedded Transportation Management from the transaction Documents    SAP ECC SAP S/4 HANA Embedded Transportation Management Shipment Document which have Shipment number: Unique identifier for tracking shipments. (Mandatory) - WEIGHT:  - Source location:  - Destination location:  - Delivery date:   - Quantity:  - Mode of transport:  - Product:   Freight Order Document which have Freight Order number: Unique identifier for tracking shipments. (Mandatory) - WEIGHT:  - Source location:  - Destination location:  - Delivery date:   - Quantity:  - Mode of transport:  - Product:   Picture of the Template This functionality allows for detailed monitoring and reporting of emissions, aiding in the management of environmental impact across supply chains.  Picture of the Manage Data App with Data Entities By leveraging pre-determined emission factors for each stage of the process, the GLEC framework can provide customized total carbon emission factors for any defined energy pathway. For biodiesel made from soybeans, it would calculate factors for emissions from farming the soybeans, converting to biodiesel, transporting the fuel, and combusting it in a diesel engine. The pre-configured emission factors enable the framework to rapidly generate carbon footprint estimates for all these different energy forms and uses. This allows users to easily compare the carbon impacts of utilizing gasoline versus ethanol or natural gas versus jet fuel for a given purpose.        Picture of the Dynamic Transport Data - Report App   CO2e(WTW)(Transport)[KG]/Parcel Target Location, Product and Quarter   CO2e(WTW)(Transport)[KG]/Parcel Target Location and Quarter CO2e(WTW)(Transport)[KG]/Quarter CO2e(WTW)(Transport)[KG]/Parcel Number and Quarter ... View more

Previously thought to be a voluntary responsibility, companies operating across the European Union (EU), Australia, Singapore and listed companies on China's three major stock exchanges are no longer immune to averting Scope 3 reporting obligations.  The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) since January 2023, and Australia's phased implementation of mandatory Scope 3 emissions reporting starting from the 1st of July 2024 - is expected to challenge many existing procurement professions both directly and indirectly worldwide. CSRD is estimated to impact approximately 50,000 European companies.  When we talk about procurement as a service and operating function, preconceptions are evoked about the role of supply chain management purely being about spend control, supply chain resiliency, cost minimisation and compliance. Indeed, procurement plays a significant role in asserting compliance and cost control. But what would this look like in an environmentally regulated landscape? One where environmentalism is no longer voluntary, but compulsory?  With the rollout of CSRD in the EU, environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are no longer about branding a company's tolerance and support for sustainability to appease stakeholders. We're now entering an era of sustainable procurement compliance which is profoundly challenging our conventional presumptions on the role of procurement beyond simply purchasing. Procurement leaders are starting to find that spend control and sustainable procurement compliance are mutually inclusive and supportive of one another. Picture this, you are currently running a sourcing event and your objective is to minimise procured costs. By using an EcoVadis carbon scorecard, you can select suppliers with verified credentials with a low emissions footprint, and therefore, potentially reduce your Scope 3 procured carbon tax.  Carbon taxes will force finance, auditing and procurement professions to work together to tackle spend on emissions. Demonstrating decarbonisation starts at the supplier selection level and can only be done using accurate, auditable carbon values and calculations. An invoice with a carbon value, can be a good starting point for documenting these emissions. Scope 3 emissions calculators will become a critical part of the procurement ESG toolkit to help users approximate the emissions intensity of that item. In most cases, actual carbon emissions are always preferred over estimated ones because let's face it...who wants to overpay their carbon taxes! However, collecting and reporting Scope 3 emissions is a significant challenge. Deloitte cites that the poor holistic integration of emissions collection technologies throughout a business's ecosystem, lack of tools especially from small to medium businesses to report Scope 3 emissions, poor supplier engagement, poor data quality and reliability, and rapidly evolving regulatory standards - all discourage many business leaders from investing in Scope 3 collection and reporting solutions...or even championing the cause at all.  This was exemplified greatly in the SEC's recent policy backflip (March 2024) to make Scope 3 reporting voluntary. But bear in mind, that many of these SEC-listed, large companies will more than likely, still have to report their Scope 3 emissions if they have a major presence in the state of California (SB-253 Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act) or the EU.  The Boston Consulting Group survey found that companies using automated digital emissions solutions were 2.5 times more likely to report their emissions comprehensively. Technology, therefore, is a huge enabler of sustainability compliance.  Despite policy setbacks from the SEC, non-EU companies with a significant EU presence (activities greater than €150 million revenue turnover) are expected to report their Scope 3 emissions to the authorities. Most large US companies with a presence in the state of California are already mandated to report Scope 3 emissions. The Biden Administration is currently proposing to enforce mandatory Scope 3 emissions reporting for its major federal contractors (annual contract values of >$US50 million). With supply chains contributing up to 88% of a company's emissions and 11.4 times that of Scope 1 and 2 primary emissions, it is no wonder that Scope 3 emissions reporting has garnered huge attention among regulators and environmental groups. Fortunately, at SAP Ariba we are making strides and efforts to ensure that our customers remain compliant to Scope 3 reporting obligations and other ESG regulations. For example, enabling supplier Scope 3 carbon submissions and third-party sustainability certifications.  ... View more

Hi! After I have created an activity type and activities, I cannot create emissions on those activities. I have data loaded for all months of 2023. However, I get an error message on "Collect Emission Data" when I select any period. Why?   Thank you! ... View more

The U.N. Plastics Treaty aims to end plastic pollution and accelerate the transition to a circular economy. This is an unprecedented opportunity to not only solve the world’s plastic problem, but also create a better environment for business to thrive by lowering barriers to trade, reducing operational costs, simplifying reporting, and boosting economies of scale. The U.N. Plastics Treaty will be implemented by governments and impact businesses across regions and industries. SAP supports the supply chain logistics and transactional systems responsible for the management of plastics and materials around the globe today; in fact, SAP customers represent 87% of global commerce. For decades, SAP software has been instrumental in enabling our customers to manage material flows, including plastics. We understand first-hand the complexity that businesses face in managing the highly fragmented web of regulations currently in place to reduce plastic waste. This complexity also applies to the flow of information between organizations, impeding the alignment of upstream efforts (reduce, substitute, redesign) with downstream solutions (collect, reuse, recycle). Achieving systemic change will require collaboration and joint innovation, which depends on effective, well-functioning communication. A common unified approach and level playing field At INC-4, the Business Coalition for a Global Plastics Treaty, together with its 200 members including SAP, is calling for global rules to ensure a common unified approach to the management of plastics and packaging, underpinned by harmonized regulations. This will make it easier to scale solutions, mobilize the right investments and enable stakeholders to work better together across the value chain. The treaty must lay the foundations for harmonized regulations that allow transparency of materials and support an inclusive plastics ecosystem. A lack of standardization for regulations and common definitions for plastics and packaging is hindering a flow of information today. Global rules will help businesses and investors to allocate capital and resources effectively for reuse and redesign, enhance waste infrastructure, and support new innovations. Four key elements for practical implementation In order to harmonize regulations, simplify information flow and accelerate implementation of global rules, SAP are further advocating for the following pre-requisites to be in place:   Establishment of common definitions for plastics and packing to ensure mutual understanding and interoperability. This applies to the categorization of various plastic polymers, how products are structured and denominated, and how they are packaged and sold. Harmonization across the plastics lifecycle covering criteria for product design, Extended Producer Responsibility schemes and reporting on material fate. This will support businesses in designing for circularity and recyclability and ensure strategic decisions are guided by the capabilities of existing downstream infrastructure and highlight where new capital investments are needed. Harmonized national disclosure schemes to ensure uniformity, comparability, and information transparency. This is essential for giving investors and regulators a base of information for policy steering and decision making.  This approach allows business to harness the full potential of AI driven innovation to accelerate solutions at scale. Recognize the role of digital  tools for traceability. Improved data and the application of digital tracking will enable true progress.  We value the recognition by negotiators of the importance of establishing digital tracking and traceability. We encourage negotiators to align on these priority areas, followed by detailed discussions on how they can effectively be implemented at scale. Technology and data will play a critical role in helping businesses to operationalize the treaty. We must not settle for a treaty that falls short of delivering its ambition to end plastic pollution.   ... View more

Hi! After update for master data upload, I don't know how to modify the links. First of all, before the update there was no need to load the nodes and links again to change just one link (for example). We could add that change or modify one that already existed in the data loading step. On the other hand, right now I have loaded the nodes, links and activated a snapshot, but I want to change a specific link (I want to change the parent node). To change this link I reload the same nodes file and the same links file (with this change), but when validating the data it tells me in the error log that "the link is already uploaded" over the other links that I have not modified and it won't let me publish them. So, how can I update a specific link? What is the H_RECORD_TYPE value for now? What are the validity dates for? Right now it also doesn't let me change the validity dates without giving me an error that I must cover the entire period. Thank you! ... View more

Hi! I have a model in CPE, I have created a process template, I have activated each step of the model and I have created a report. I created this report by clicking the "Reports" button from the "Modeling" section. However, from the "Process" section, when I click on my process template, the "Reports" button is activated, but when I click on it, the previous report does not appear and the options to create and delete are not activated.   Why is it that if I access the reports from the modeling screen, the created report appears and the options are enabled, but when I am on the processes screen, they do not?   Thank you!   ... View more

Hi! In SAP SCT, currently there is no process template in the "Upload Targets" app where you can consult the actual data in the custom measures or the target data of the advanced metrics. I would have to create a query through the CPE, right?   Thank! ... View more