SAP happen in the cloud ,” she says . “ It ’ s going to happen with AI with the amount of data we ’ ll have to synthesise . We ’ re talking about envisioning a supply chain that shares sustainability related information more openly and fluidly than they share financial information .
“ There ’ s a gap between where the regulations are envisioning what ’ s possible and where we see technology delivering .”
Moving to a circular economy The co-GMs both made the point that we can only deal with about half of global emissions by moving to renewable energy . We have to tackle the other half by designing out waste , keeping materials in use longer , and adopting regenerative practices across all areas of production .
One hundred billion tonnes of materials are used each year in our current “ linear ” economy . Just 7.2 % is reused or recycled . The SAP team wants to change this and aims to help need to move the data from one supplier to another .
“ We want to rely on real data that customers can share ,” says Rothermel . “ This is why we cover carbon sharing capabilities in our SAP Sustainability Data Exchange solution , for example , that uses standards and protocols established by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development ’ s PACT programme , the Pathfinder framework , and other standards over time .”
Mendelsohn sees the need for companies to move to the cloud to accelerate how they can take advantage of next-generation carbon accounting .
“ The reality is that the energy transition and the materials transition are going to
“ THERE ’ S A GAP BETWEEN WHERE THE REGULATIONS ARE ENVISIONING WHAT ’ S POSSIBLE AND WHERE WE SEE TECHNOLOGY DELIVERING ”
SOPHIA MENDELSOHN CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY AND COMMERCIAL OFFICER , SAP SUSTAINABILITY
86 December 2023