![]() |
gettyimagesbank |
SAP provides tracking solutions to measure carbon footprint
By Kim Bo-eun
Technology can play a key role in helping companies improve their systems to better protect the environment and address social issues, said German multinational software giant SAP SE.
This claim was a part of discussions that took place at a webinar hosted by Harvard Business Review, Monday, attended by SAP SE CEO Christian Klein, SAP Asia Pacific Japan President Paul Marriott and Global Plastic Action Partnership Director Kristen Hughes.
The discussions addressed how companies are aligning their businesses to the "circular economy," a paradigm that encourages the innovation of systems to reduce waste, boost resource efficiency and keep materials in use.
"What we are now doing is with the use of technology, like the business network and blockchain, we want to make the supply chain completely transparent so that you can track and trace and also measure carbon footprint. So I'm convinced technology will play a key role, especially in the supply chains of our customers, to make the sustainability goals work," Klein said.
"We want to enable our customers to measure sustainability, to measure the carbon footprint across the supply chain and measure how to move forward with diversity and inclusion. By providing this transparency, customers can start to act on that."
"Tracking and tracing so many of the materials that are being used, can help us to drive greater recycling rates, greater recovery rates. But understanding the source of where that material is coming from helps businesses then to build greener and more socially impactful supply chains," said Hughes, who doubles as a World Economic Forum Executive Committee member.
"We think that by tracking and tracing we'll understand how to create a much more circular plastic supply chain," she said.
SAP said digital transitions by companies around the world can be the starting point for making their businesses more sustainable.
"You can solve the sustainability, transparency and the circular process through a lot of the digital transformation that is already happening," Marriott said.
SAP has utilized technology to identify and measure the biggest drivers of the company's carbon footprint and take action. As a cloud company, SAP is running numerous data centers around the world and decided to utilize only clean energy to operate these centers. The software supplier also recently made the decision to have an emission-free company car fleet by 2030.