Resilient Supply Chain Podcast: Carbon Data Becomes a Condition of Market Access

The latest Resilient Supply Chain Podcast examines why carbon data is moving beyond annual disclosure and into product, procurement and market-access decisions. Host Tom Raftery is joined by Stephen Jamieson, Chief Marketing Officer for SAP Sustainability, to assess the operational implications of product carbon footprints, digital product passports and AI-enabled compliance.

For supply chain leaders, the issue is increasingly commercial: incomplete or unreliable data may affect whether products can be sold, financed or credibly positioned with customers. The full episode is available at www.resilientsupplychainpodcast.com

Tom Raftery (left), host of the Resilient Supply Chain Podcast, speaks with Stephen Jamieson (right), Chief Marketing Officer for SAP Sustainability, about why carbon data is becoming a prerequisite for product compliance, procurement decisions and market access across global supply chains.

From Disclosure to Operational Control

The central tension is the gap between reporting sustainability performance and using environmental data inside daily business decisions. Many organisations can produce corporate-level emissions figures, yet still lack reliable information at product, component or transaction level.

That distinction matters as regulations such as CBAM, the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and packaging rules place greater emphasis on traceable product data. Jamieson warned that the consequence could become direct: “If you don’t meet those conditions, you simply won’t be able to put those products on the market.”

Carbon data is therefore shifting from a specialist ESG responsibility into an operational control spanning procurement, manufacturing, finance and product compliance. The practical requirement is not simply more reporting, but evidence that can support sourcing, product-launch and market-entry decisions.

AI Can Reinforce the Wrong Priorities

AI offers a route to processing emissions factors, supplier information and product footprints across thousands of products. It may reduce the time and cost involved in preparing compliance evidence, identifying reduction opportunities and connecting data to business workflows.

However, the conversation also highlighted a less obvious risk. AI systems optimise against the information they are given. Businesses typically measure revenue, cost and utilisation far more consistently than carbon intensity, water consumption or recycled content. If those sustainability factors remain absent or unreliable, automated systems may accelerate short-term decisions while excluding longer-term exposure.

As Jamieson put it, “AI doesn’t care.” The governance question is therefore not whether organisations use AI, but which variables they allow it to treat as decision-grade.

Scope 3 Remains a Supply Chain Problem

Scope 3 emissions expose the limits of fragmented supplier networks. Direct suppliers may be accessible, but data quality deteriorates quickly across multi-tier supply chains. Estimates and industry averages can support initial reporting, but they are less useful for comparing specific products, suppliers or manufacturing pathways.

Greater accuracy depends on common standards and consistent data exchange across global networks. Digital product passports may improve the flow of information, although technical standardisation remains slow and industry-specific. Steel, aluminium, batteries and packaging each require different calculation methods and evidence.

The Salzgitter example showed the commercial potential. Product-level carbon footprinting allowed the steel manufacturer to demonstrate the value of lower-carbon production to downstream customers while reducing exposure to volatile energy inputs.

Accountability Cannot Be Automated

Agentic systems may prepare evidence, map emissions factors and identify risks, but accountability must remain with human decision-makers. Decisions about entering a market, releasing a product or accepting compliance exposure cannot be delegated to software.

The wider strategic requirement is integration. Carbon data must reach the systems used for procurement, supply planning, capital allocation and product management. If it remains confined to a sustainability team, it may satisfy disclosure requirements without changing operational outcomes.

As regulation and customer expectations become more product-specific, supply chain organisations will need clearer data ownership, stronger governance and better links between sustainability information and commercial decisions. The organisations best positioned to respond will be those that treat carbon data as part of operational execution rather than as a separate reporting exercise.