Accelerating Scope 3 Reductions as 2030 Nears

TL;DR: With 2030 climate targets looming, corporate leaders must urgently accelerate Scope 3 emissions reduction by leveraging collaboration, innovation, and bold leadership. This article provides an action-oriented roadmap for CEOs to drive rapid decarbonisation across their value chains in the second half of the decade, turning climate ambition into tangible results.

Executive Takeaways

• Make Scope 3 a strategic priority: Treat value-chain emissions as core to business strategy, setting clear targets and integrating Scope 3 into all major decisions. Leadership teams should elevate Scope 3 to the boardroom agenda, alongside financial performance and risk management.
• Engage and empower your suppliers: Use the power of procurement to drive low-carbon innovation across your supply chain. Work closely with suppliers to cut emissions – co-invest in greener processes, share technology and know-how, and set shared goals​. Large buyers can create a “pull” effect that helps smaller partners decarbonise.
• Collaborate beyond your organisation: Join forces with industry peers, coalitions, and initiatives to tackle common challenges. Collective action accelerates learning and scaling of solutions. By collaborating pre-competitively (through industry alliances or the Scope 3 Collective ethos), companies can develop standards, drive innovation, and amplify their climate impact together.
• Invest in innovation and circularity: Pursue new technologies, materials, and business models that reduce Scope 3 emissions (from renewable energy projects to circular design). Finance supplier transitions to sustainable practices and explore innovations like product life-cycle extensions, recycling, and low-carbon product substitutes. These investments not only cut emissions but can spur efficiency and uncover new opportunities.
• Lead with urgency and accountability: CEOs and boards must champion Scope 3 efforts with a sense of urgency. Set bold interim targets for 2025 and 2030, measure progress transparently, and hold your organisation accountable. Build a culture of climate action where every department – from R&D to procurement – is incentivised to find emission reductions. Waiting is not an option; decisive moves now will determine whether 2030 goals are met.

Introduction: 2030 on the Horizon – The Clock is Ticking

In boardrooms around the world, a new countdown is looming large: the year 2030. This date isn’t just a distant milestone; it’s the deadline for the first major test of corporate climate commitments. When the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, 2030 felt far off. Now, it’s just around the corner – a five-year sprint remains for companies to show meaningful emissions cuts, especially in Scope 3 (value chain) emissions. The stark reality is that most organisations are not on track. Research indicates that 93% of the world’s largest companies will fail to meet their net-zero pledges unless they at least double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030​. In other words, incremental progress won’t suffice; we need an urgent step-change in action.

Yet amidst the urgency, there’s also a story of possibility and leadership. Some forward-thinking companies are already proving that bold action on emissions can go hand-in-hand with business growth. For instance, IKEA has decoupled economic growth from environmental impact, achieving a 24.3% reduction in climate footprint from 2016 while boosting revenue by 30.9%​. This achievement demonstrates that aggressive Scope 3 reductions are achievable and can even strengthen a company’s performance and resilience. As 2030 approaches, CEOs should take heart from such examples: the seemingly impossible is indeed possible – if we act now.

Embracing this challenge is not just about hitting a distant climate target; it’s about future-proofing the business. Investors, regulators, and customers are increasingly demanding real progress on emissions. The 2023 UN global stocktake of the Paris Agreement made it clear that “collectively we are falling short of our climate ambitions… It’s time to speed up our efforts.”​. Nowhere is this call to action more pertinent for businesses than in tackling Scope 3 emissions, which often represent the lion’s share of their carbon footprint. The stage is set for corporate leaders to move from ambition to action. The sections below outline how to build momentum in the remaining half of this critical decade, turning climate strategy into tangible results.

The Scope 3 Challenge: Why Value-Chain Emissions Matter Most

For many large companies, Scope 3 emissions – those originating up and down the value chain from suppliers, partners, and product use – constitute the majority of their climate impact. In fact, studies show Scope 3 can account for up to 70% or more of a company’s total emissions in complex global supply chains​. This makes Scope 3 both a critical priority and a formidable challenge. Unlike direct emissions from owned operations (Scopes 1 and 2, which companies can control more easily), Scope 3 involves factors outside a firm’s direct control: the factories that produce your raw materials, the logistics providers that transport your goods, the consumers using (and eventually disposing of) your products.

Because of this complexity, tackling Scope 3 requires a fundamentally different approach – one of influence, partnership, and systems-thinking. It’s not as simple as switching to renewable electricity in your own facilities or upgrading your vehicle fleet (important as those actions are). Instead, Scope 3 reduction means orchestrating change across an entire ecosystem of business partners. It means persuading and enabling thousands of independent actors to align with a low-carbon future. Little wonder that a World Economic Forum report dubbed Scope 3 “the most difficult challenge on the global net-zero journey”​

However, “difficult” does not mean “impossible.” The very scale of Scope 3 emissions means that addressing them is incredibly impactful. Every improvement cascades through the value chain. If a major manufacturer helps all its suppliers cut their emissions, the ripple effect spans industries and regions. Moreover, focusing on Scope 3 unlocks opportunities for innovation, efficiency, and trust-building with stakeholders. By taking responsibility for emissions outside their four walls, corporations demonstrate true climate leadership – showing customers, investors, and regulators that they are committed to sustainability beyond token actions.

Importantly, tackling Scope 3 is becoming not just a voluntary endeavor but an expected one. Regulatory landscapes are shifting to compel greater transparency and action on value-chain emissions. For example, the European Union’s new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require large companies to disclose their Scope 3 emissions alongside direct emissions​. In effect, ignoring Scope 3 is no longer an option – neither in the court of public opinion nor under the scrutiny of compliance. Businesses that proactively address these emissions will be better positioned to meet emerging rules, avoid reputational risks, and stay ahead of competitors who delay. The message is clear: Scope 3 is the frontier where the climate battle will be won or lost for big business in the coming years. The next step is figuring out how to conquer this frontier.

From Pledges to Progress: The Second-Half Sprint to 2030

The first half of this decade saw an outpouring of corporate climate pledges. Hundreds of Fortune 500 companies announced net-zero targets, and many set specific goals for 2030 – often aiming to cut emissions 50% or more. These commitments were necessary and laudable. But as we enter the latter half of the “decisive decade,” the focus must shift from goal-setting to goal-getting. It’s time to deliver results. Every CEO who made bold promises in 2020 or 2021 will be judged on whether their company actually bent the emissions curve by 2030. This creates a new kind of pressure in the C-suite: a race against time to implement, scale, and accelerate decarbonisation initiatives in a matter of just a few years.

Why is this second-half push so crucial? Simply put, we have used up much of our slack. Many firms spent the early years establishing baselines, improving data collection, and piloting green projects. Valuable work, but often more preparatory than transformative. Now, the remaining years offer no luxury for slow ramp-ups. If a company’s emissions aren’t yet decisively trending downward, an inflection must happen now. Analyses by Accenture warn that without doubling the current rate of emissions reduction by 2030, the vast majority of companies will miss their targets​. In practice, this means moving from incremental annual cuts (say 2-3%) to breakthrough annual cuts (5-10% or more) – especially in Scope 3, where past progress has been sluggish.

Several forces are converging to make this acceleration both necessary and feasible. One is stakeholder expectation: Investors are pressing harder, banks are factoring climate into financing, and consumers are increasingly favouring sustainable brands. Another force is policy: besides the EU’s CSRD, initiatives like the SEC’s climate disclosure rules in the US and international frameworks are pushing companies to be accountable for supply-chain emissions. A third factor is the maturation of technology and solutions. Green alternatives for high-emitting activities (from electric trucks to low-carbon steel and cement, to sustainable aviation fuel) are advancing rapidly. What was unavailable or exorbitantly expensive in 2015 may be viable at scale by 2025.

This means companies that act swiftly can capture the benefits of these emerging solutions – but they have to start deploying and scaling them now. Business leaders should ask: Are we moving from planning to implementation at a pace that matches our rhetoric? For example, if you committed to engage all key suppliers on climate by 2030, you should have reached a significant fraction of them already and be well underway with collaboration programmes. If not, now is the time to dramatically expand those efforts. The second-half sprint is about focusing on the highest-impact actions and removing any internal hurdles (be it budget constraints, misaligned incentives, or fear of imperfect data) that have slowed action so far. As the saying goes, “speed is of the essence.” In this race to 2030, companies need to be not just runners, but sprinters.

Leveraging Procurement and Innovation to Cut Scope 3 Emissions

So, how can companies actually drive faster reductions in their Scope 3 emissions? One of the most powerful levers is procurement – the act of choosing what you buy, who you buy from, and how you engage suppliers. Every purchasing decision is an opportunity to prefer low-carbon options and to influence supplier behaviour. Progressive firms are embedding climate criteria into their procurement processes: for example, requiring suppliers to disclose emissions, setting supplier carbon performance standards, or even making contract awards contingent on climate action plans. The logic is simple: if every supplier in your value chain is aligned to cut emissions, your Scope 3 will fall dramatically. The World Economic Forum emphasizes that companies “must use the power of procurement and become more collaborative” to reduce Scope 3 emissions​. In practice, this means sustainability teams and procurement teams working hand in hand to factor carbon into sourcing decisions, alongside cost, quality, and delivery.

A concrete starting point is to identify your top emitting suppliers or categories – often a small portion of suppliers accounts for a large chunk of Scope 3. Work with these key partners first. Set up joint initiatives: for instance, co-develop a plan to switch to renewable energy at supplier factories, or to redesign a high-carbon material to a greener alternative. Some companies are hosting “Supplier Sustainability Days”, inviting their vendors to learn, share and commit to climate targets. Others have created incentive programs – such as financing support, longer-term contracts, or price premiums – for suppliers that make verifiable emissions cuts. By treating suppliers as extensions of your own enterprise, you can help build capabilities where they may be lacking. Remember, many suppliers (especially smaller ones) might lack the resources or knowledge to decarbonise on their own​. Your support can catalyse action that otherwise wouldn’t happen.

Beyond procurement, innovation plays a pivotal role. Cutting Scope 3 often requires doing things differently than before. For example, if a significant part of your footprint comes from raw materials (like cement in construction, or palm oil in consumer goods), it’s worth investing in R&D for low-carbon or recycled alternatives. Companies across sectors are reimagining products and processes: from automakers using more recycled aluminum (to avoid emissions from primary aluminum production) to consumer brands experimenting with refillable packaging to reduce waste. Supply chain emission cuts can also come from process innovation – say, more efficient logistics routes, or digitising operations to cut business travel emissions. Encourage your teams to pilot new ideas and learn fast. Some breakthroughs will come from your own labs, others from partnering with startups or academia. By innovating now, you not only reduce emissions but also potentially gain a first-mover advantage in your industry.

Circular economy approaches deserve special mention as a form of innovation. If products and materials can be kept in use longer, refurbished, or recycled at end-of-life, that can significantly reduce the need for virgin material production (a major Scope 3 source). Leading companies are exploring service-based models (selling a service rather than a product) or designing products for easy disassembly and reuse. Such shifts require creativity and often collaboration across the value chain, but they can slash emissions while opening new revenue streams.

In summary, driving Scope 3 reductions will come from a mix of hard requirements (leveraging your buying power) and creative reinvention (harnessing innovation). By pushing both levers, companies can make serious headway. Each contract renegotiated with climate in mind, each supplier enabled to cut emissions, and each product redesigned for sustainability is a step toward a lower Scope 3 footprint. Multiplied across a global value chain, these steps become transformational.

Collaboration: The Multiplier Effect for Decarbonisation

No company can single-handedly solve the Scope 3 puzzle – and the good news is, you don’t have to. Collaboration is the force multiplier that can turn individual efforts into industry-wide change. In the fight against climate change, competitors can become allies and entire industries can move together when leaders band together behind common goals. We are seeing the rise of collaborative initiatives precisely for this reason. The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, for example, is a World Economic Forum initiative uniting over 120 CEOs to drive collective climate action, with a key focus on cutting supply chain (Scope 3) emissions​. Such alliances recognise that sharing knowledge, pooling resources, and aligning on standards can help everyone go further, faster.

For a CEO or executive, collaborating might mean a few things. Within your industry, it could involve pre-competitive collaboration – coming together with peers to set sector-wide guidelines (like a standard supplier code of conduct on emissions) or to jointly invest in solutions (like a new sustainable raw material that multiple companies will use). It might also mean transparency about your own learnings: publishing case studies of what worked in your supply chain, or open-sourcing tools for carbon tracking, so others can benefit. This kind of leadership-by-sharing can elevate the entire market. Remember, if you help a competitor’s supplier reduce emissions, that reduction counts toward global climate progress and likely benefits your own supply chain indirectly (many suppliers serve multiple buyers). As one climate leader put it, “we can make progress if we work together... but we have to start now”​

Across the value chain, collaboration means involving all stakeholders – suppliers, distributors, customers, even governments or NGOs. Consider forming a value chain coalition for your product. For instance, a food & beverage company might convene farmers, packaging producers, logistics firms, and retailers to collectively find ways to cut emissions from farm to store shelf. These gatherings often reveal synergies: perhaps by cooperating, companies can share transport loads to reduce trips, or jointly finance a recycling facility that benefits all. Collaboration can also take the form of mentorship: large enterprises mentoring smaller suppliers on how to measure emissions and offering tools or training. The Scope 3 Collective itself stands for this ethos of shared effort – that by coming together and exchanging best practices, the whole network moves faster toward sustainability.

Crucially, collaboration helps in tackling systemic barriers that no single firm can solve. Think about commodity supply chains (like steel, chemicals, or shipping) that need entire infrastructure shifts to decarbonise. Through industry associations or public-private partnerships, companies can advocate for needed policies (such as green energy investment, carbon pricing, or R&D funding for breakthrough tech) that enable their Scope 3 goals. By presenting a united front, businesses also send a strong signal to suppliers: “Our whole industry is moving – get on board, and we’ll support you.” This can spur laggards into action and reassure leaders that they won’t be at a cost disadvantage for doing the right thing.

In essence, collaboration converts individual ambition into collective momentum. It’s the antidote to the isolation that many sustainability teams feel when grappling with supplier emissions. By tapping into the wider community – be it cross-industry groups, sector alliances, or value-chain partnerships – companies amplify their impact. The climate crisis is a shared problem; solving it is a shared responsibility. And when companies collaborate, they also share the benefits: resilient supply chains, stabilised industries, and a more level playing field in the transition to net-zero.

Leading from the Top: The CEO’s Role in Scope 3 Success

Change on the scale required for Scope 3 doesn’t happen without strong, visible leadership from the top. This is a moment for courageous CEOs and executive teams to step up and be counted. Leadership in this context has several dimensions. First, it’s about vision and commitment: clearly articulating why Scope 3 decarbonisation is mission-critical for the company’s future, and setting ambitious targets that inspire and even stretch the organisation. When a CEO says, “We will cut our value-chain emissions in half by 2030,” it sends a powerful message both internally and externally that this is a non-negotiable priority.

Second, leadership means allocating resources and aligning incentives to back up that vision. It’s not enough to task the sustainability department with solving Scope 3. Leaders must empower cross-functional action. That could mean investing in new systems for carbon data, hiring experts in supply chain sustainability, or providing budget for pilot projects with key suppliers. It also means baking climate objectives into performance reviews and executive compensation. Many leading companies now have a portion of CEO or senior executives’ bonuses tied to achieving climate targets. This kind of alignment focuses minds and efforts. It signals that everyone in the leadership team – from the CFO to the Head of Procurement – is expected to deliver on emissions goals, not just the Chief Sustainability Officer.

Third, top-level leadership is about culture and communication. Leaders set the tone. By talking frequently about climate action in internal forums, celebrating teams that find creative emissions reductions, and framing sustainability as part of the company’s purpose, they cultivate an environment where employees at all levels feel ownership of the mission. Scope 3 reductions often come from operational ideas on the ground (say, an engineer figuring out a more efficient process, or a buyer discovering a greener supplier). A culture that encourages such initiative is vital. Externally, CEOs should also communicate openly about their Scope 3 journey – sharing progress in sustainability reports, but also honestly acknowledging challenges. Transparency builds credibility and trust. It can also galvanise others to follow suit; when one industry leader is candid about both successes and setbacks in decarbonising their supply chain, it raises the bar for peers to do the same.

Finally, leading from the top involves a willingness to collaborate and advocate beyond the company, as discussed earlier. A CEO’s influence can reach suppliers, industry groups, and policymakers in ways that a sustainability manager’s cannot. By personally engaging counterparts at supplier companies (e.g., CEO-to-CEO dialogues on climate action) or by speaking up for stronger climate policy, top executives leverage their leadership status for broader impact. We have seen examples of CEOs convening supplier summits, or co-founding industry alliances – these actions make a difference. They show that the company isn’t treating Scope 3 as a checkbox exercise, but as a fundamental transformation that the leadership is driving.

In summary, executive leadership is the linchpin of Scope 3 acceleration. With clear vision, adequate resources, an enabling culture, and outward advocacy, CEOs and their teams can break through the barriers that have traditionally hampered value-chain climate action. In doing so, they not only steer their own companies toward 2030 success, but also lead the wider business community by example. This is leadership at its most authentic: aligning profitability with sustainability, and rallying others to a cause that transcends individual firms – securing a livable planet for generations to come.

Conclusion: The 2030 Imperative – Action, Collaboration, and Courage Now

The road to 2030 is shorter than it seems, but it is still wide open for those willing to lead. We are entering a pivotal period where years of talking about Scope 3 must convert into a frenzy of doing. The window to make a credible dent in value-chain emissions by 2030 is closing fast – every quarter, every project, every partnership now counts. The encouraging news is that the tools, ideas, and momentum needed are largely in place. What’s required is the will to deploy them at full throttle.

Corporate leaders reading this should come away with one overriding message: act now, and act together. If your company has been slow to engage suppliers on climate, pick up the phone and start that dialogue next week. If you’ve been sitting on a low-carbon product innovation, fast-track it to market. If you haven’t yet compared notes with industry peers on decarbonisation, initiate that coalition. And if internal teams are hesitating due to data uncertainties or competing priorities, cut through the noise – make it clear that getting started, however imperfect, is far better than waiting. As experts have noted, we no longer have the luxury of focusing only on distant 2050 goals; we need urgent and drastic cuts by 2025 and 2030 – and nowhere is this more challenging and meaningful than in Scope 3 emissions​.

Let 2030 be seen not as a threat, but as an opportunity – a deadline that spurs innovation, efficiency, and unity of purpose. Companies that rise to this challenge will likely be the winners in the emerging low-carbon economy. They will have stronger supply chains, closer ties with customers and suppliers, and the reputational advantage of being true climate leaders. Those that delay, on the other hand, risk scrambling at the last minute or falling irretrievably behind, facing both regulatory penalties and public backlash.

The call to action, therefore, is straightforward: make the second half of this decade count. Every business has a role to play in the global push to halve emissions by 2030. For large companies, that role is outsized – but so is your capacity to drive change. Use your influence, your resources, and your convening power for collective decarbonisation. Encourage your peers to join you; challenge your team to go further; support your suppliers to succeed alongside you. The Scope 3 Collective spirit is about recognising that we are all connected in this endeavor. By collaborating and acting boldly now, we can create a tipping point where sustainable practices become the norm across industries.

In the story of climate action, 2030 will be a defining chapter. Future stakeholders – be they shareholders, employees, or our children – will ask what today’s leaders did when it mattered most. By heeding this imperative to accelerate Scope 3 reductions, you can ensure that your company’s 2030 story is one of foresight, responsibility, and positive impact. The challenge is immense, but so is our collective capability. It’s time to run – not walk – towards our shared climate goals. Together, let’s make the next five years the turning point that will be remembered as the era when business bent the emissions curve, and set the world on a course to a sustainable future.