Value Chain Approaches  
to a Low-Carbon Economy:
Business and Policy Partnerships

This paper is prepared in support of a workshop at the World Business Summit on
Climate Change (Summit) on leveraging value chains to reduce climate impacts and
build a low-carbon economy.      

It is widely acknowledged that making significant progress on mitigating the impact of
climate change depends on reducing the impacts of supply chains.  A recent McKinsey
study shows that 40 to 60 percent of companies’ total carbon footprints reside upstream
1
in their supply chains,  suggesting the scale of the opportunity.  Fundamental changes in
consumer behavior, supply chain structure and management, and business models are
2
needed for long-term success.   The scope of this challenge is reinforced by a current
knowledge gap: most suppliers do not track or report carbon emissions data; buyers do
3
not control suppliers’ emissions or have access to accompanying data,  and there is
disagreement on how to measure and apportion responsibility for supply chain
emissions.