The UN Global Compact, which was established at the organisation’s headquarters in 2000, is the world’s largest and highest-level multinational program for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development. It is dedicated to encouraging ethical corporate practices for shared value and helping accomplish the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In China, the local network strives to encourage more Chinese enterprises to sign up for the UN Global Compact, and to push more companies to adopt and apply the organisation’s 10 principles on the environment, labor rights, human rights, and anti-corruption. Aside from these objectives, it aspires to improve the interaction between Chinese companies and the international community, enhance the global reputation and image of local businesses, and promote the long-term development of Chinese firms in the context of economic globalisation.

Recently, China’s UN Global Compact Network held a selection activity for the “Enterprise Best Practices for Achieving SDGs” to better understand and summarise the sustainable development of local enterprises and propel the UN agenda. SAP has been named to this list for the third year in a row, demonstrating the company’s commitment to advancing the implementation of SDGs over the course of several years. (InsideSAP Asia often references articles from websites in other languages to bring you as much information as possible.)

The cloud solution SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics, which was developed by the SAP China Research Institute, was named the best practice in the “Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutral” category. As a key component of the Climate 21 initiative, the cloud product allows for more clarity and transparency on the carbon footprint of products along their full value chain, including manufacturing and raw material consumption as well as transportation and logistics.

Enabling Green Development Through SAP Digital Technology

In order to make carbon emission data more visible and quantifiable, SAP digital technology and solutions are being developed with the goal of assisting enterprises in integrating carbon reduction strategies into their business processes and making their green development objectives a reality. Dr. Li Ruicheng, SAP Global Senior Vice President and Director of SAP China Research Institute, shared in a press release statement:

“The application of digital technology can help companies measure and calculate carbon emissions in a dynamic regulatory environment, and take effective measures to implement low-carbon strategies and achieve green development.”

“SAP China Research Institute has more than 4,000 R&D (research and development) engineers. With strong local innovation strength, we have been deeply involved in 90{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of SAP’s global product research and development, and continue to contribute to the digital transformation and sustainable development of customers in China and around the world,” Dr. Li Ruicheng further explained.

The “dual carbon” goal has emerged as a significant priority for Chinese companies today and local businesses are also actively exploring the implementation of low-carbon strategies in their operations. Last year, an in-depth meeting was held between the Panjin City Government and SAP to exchange their perspectives on the “Green Development Platform Project” in Shuangtaizi District in China where SAP digital software and solutions will play a critical role in the achievement of China’s environmental objectives.

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SAP has long been an advocate of championing technological progress while embedding sustainability throughout its business operations. In November last year, the German multinational was one of the 44 organisations that received the first-ever 2021 Terra Carta Seal for their outstanding transition business plans to becoming net-zero on or before 2050. Since its launch in June 2020, the company’s Climate 21 initiative has also been used by customers to accelerate their sustainability goals and enable them to calculate, monitor, report, and take on the right actions to minimise their carbon footprint.

To further strengthen the tech giant’s suite of sustainability-specific products and solutions, a newly established role is set to help customers and partners in realising their strategic goals while complying with regulatory requirements. This week, Susanna Hasenoehrl joined SAP as the inaugural Head of Sustainability for APJ where she will be responsible for developing and fuelling the company’s sustainability strategy across the region. 

Paul Marriott, President at SAP Asia Pacific and Japan, maintained that the company’s growing portfolio of sustainability solutions enables zero inequality, builds the foundation for a circular economy geared towards zero waste, as well as helps create a future with zero emissions. According to him, Asia accounts for over 70{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} of global greenhouse gas emissions and it is crucial that SAP’s efforts are focused on assisting customers, partners, and governments in developing and implementing climate change-related policies and solutions immediately.

Commenting on Hasenoehrl’s appointment as SAP’s Sustainability Head in the region, he said:

“This new role reinforces our ongoing commitment to strengthen our sustainability offering for customers and partners across APJ,” Marriott emphasised.

Reinforcing SAP’s Sustainability Commitment in the APJ Region

Prior to joining SAP, Hasenoehrl worked at Yara International as Sustainability Lead and was responsible for the growth and commercialisation of the global firm’s digital agronomic solutions in Asia. She was also the founder of Joice Nutrition, which delivers food ratings based on evidence for digital consumers and businesses from the cloud. With her consulting experience on sustainable business and climate change in the region, Hasenoehrl has already made a name for herself as an industry veteran dedicated to integrating business performance and sustainability outcomes through innovation and technology.

“Asia is at a turning point when it comes to sustainability. Climate change is already having a dramatic impact on Asian nations, exacerbating natural disasters and disrupting agricultural patterns,” she highlighted.

As part of her position as SAP’s new Sustainability Head in APJ, Hasenoehrl is anticipated to meet the urgent needs of various businesses and governments, support strategic customer engagements, and ensure that the company’s go-to-market efforts are effective. Sharing her excitement about the new role, Hasenoehrl said that SAP has “incredible potential” to foster fundamental, systemic change when it comes to sustainability. She further explained:

“Businesses are beginning to understand the enormous responsibility they have to eliminate carbon emissions from their supply chains, operations, products, and services.”

“It’s a great time to join SAP on this journey, supporting and co-innovating with our APJ customers as we improve environmental and social performance. I am excited about the road ahead and the joint opportunity to empower Asia’s sustainable future,” she concluded.

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With the present environmental pressures to comply with current climate change regulations, more and more organisations are now implementing solutions that create long-term value for sustainability and optimal economic performance.

In a recent interview with GovInsider, U Chee Lioy, Industry Cluster Lead for Public Sector at SAP Southeast Asia, talked about the role of data in tackling climate change. For example, SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics helps measure the carbon footprint of agencies’ operations or assess the carbon footprint of products accurately.

Built on SAP S/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Cloud Platform, SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics provides carbon emission data for a company’s products by plant, profit center, and cost center. This technology provides carbon transparency for a product throughout its whole value chain. Leveraging SAP data management capabilities, producers can also analyse and understand emissions breakdowns by combining data from product databases and third-party solutions.

Chee Lioy has emphasised that SAP is committed to partnering agencies in their sustainability efforts. The software giant has launched the Climate 21 Initiative to foster discussions around sustainability and help organisations reduce their carbon footprint. Furthermore, SAP has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality by the end of 2023.

Shaping a Sustainable Future with Singapore

Similarly, Singapore has unveiled a national push to promote the country’s climate agenda and attain net-zero emissions as soon as possible. By 2025, the Green Plan aims to plant one million additional trees and construct eight electric vehicle-ready towns with charging stations in all public housing car parks.

The program also expands on Singapore’s 2030 goal of reducing waste transported to landfills by 30{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, with a goal of 20{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} reduction by 2026, as stated by a CNA report.

In relation, Chee Lioy explained that SAP supports governments’ climate efforts by embedding sustainability into its analytics applications. The tech giant connects customers to more environmentally friendly products while also providing visibility into waste flows to aid organisations in their efforts to achieve zero waste.

Singapore continues to lead the way in the second edition of the Top 50 Smart City Government rankings published by the Eden Strategy Institute this year. It has also earned the same accolade in the IMD Smart Cities Index published by Swiss business school IMD and the Singapore University of Technology and Design in 2019. In a LinkedIn blog post written by Chee Lioy, he said:

“SAP takes pride in being a strategic partner to the Singapore Government. We are gladdened by Singapore’s accolades as it’s also a testament that we are heading in the right direction with this nation-state.”

Helping Achieve UN SDGs by Leveraging SAP Data Management Capabilities

During this year’s SAP Sustainability Summit virtual conference, SAP has announced that it has joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) as an innovation partner in its Value Chain Carbon Transparency Pathfinder. The initiative aims to develop an effective model to decarbonise industry through data transparency as well as help realise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. 

SAP’s membership accelerates its momentum in sustainability leadership and innovation. Peter Bakker, President and CEO at WBCSD, said: 

“We’re glad to be counting on SAP’s support, drive, and expertise across our programs and projects – especially in the Carbon Transparency Pathfinder, which is a perfect initiative for SAP because their software and data management solutions are used by many of the world’s largest companies to run complex supply chain and manufacturing operations.”

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The Climate 21 initiative enables customers to calculate, report, and take the right actions to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. SAP CEO Christian Klein said that the software company is uniquely positioned to help enterprises address the challenge of carbon management. He stressed in his recent LinkedIn post:

“As we run the supply chains of the largest companies in the world, we can play a central role in helping companies manage their green line by minimising the carbon footprint and negative environmental impact of their products.”

With its industry expertise and global scale to take on climate action, SAP also empowers organisations to transform their business models, customer engagement methods, and supply chains as necessary to hit their net-zero carbon emissions goals. 

Just recently, SAP has also pledged to achieve carbon-neutrality in its own operations by the end of 2023 — two years earlier than previously stated. By focusing particularly on climate action objectives, the company supports the Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations General Assembly.

SAP Invests in the Development of Sustainable Digital Technologies

Once again reinforcing its ongoing dedication to tackling climate change, SAP CEO Christian Klein has become one of the 26 CEOs to sign a Declaration to support the Green and Digital Transformation of the EU. SAP has joined forces with other companies in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to become founding members of the European Green Digital Coalition (EGDC).

EGDC members will cooperate with the European Commission to deliver their sustainability commitments in the following areas:

• Investment in the deployment and development of sustainable digital technologies and services that have greater material and energy efficiencies.
• Development of tools and methods to measure the overall impact of green digital technologies on the environment in partnership with non-government organisations and other relevant experts.
• Co-creation of guidelines and recommendations for the green digital transformation of different industries including, but not limited to, technology, construction, energy, agriculture, and transport to further contribute to an innovative, inclusive and resilient society.

On top of this, SAP has partnered with the members of the CEO Alliance to invest over €100 billion in decarbonisation and other projects such as ensuring carbon emissions transparency along the full supply chain.

Moreover, a European Parliament Pilot project — financed and managed by the European Commission — will support the activities of the EGDC later this year.

Collaboration in SAP’s Climate 21 Initiative

Meanwhile, Quantum Business Advisory (QBA) has recently been added to the list of companies partnering with SAP to jointly explore collaboration in the Climate 21 program. The company has also expressed its interest in SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics — a solution that offers carbon transparency of a product across the entire value chain, including transport, production, energy use, and raw materials.

Headquartered in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, QBA is a premier practitioner in SAP solutions and services. As a company that has established its name on both the manufacturing domain and SAP technology, it will also work closely with the software giant in developing artificial intelligence (AI) driven manufacturing solutions.

Subimal Mukherjee, Centre Head at QBA Kolkata, said:

“This is our first of many steps that we are going to take together with the SAP team to reach some significant goals.”

Furthermore, InsideSAP is also gearing towards green recruitment to pave the way for more sustainable SAP projects. The implementation of a simple yet powerful TRP (Talent Resource Planning) system will drive sustainability in a company all while saving time and money.

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As pressure builds on the public and private sectors to implement climate protection measures, recent months have seen an increasing number of major businesses pledging net-zero carbon footprint targets. The latest of a growing cohort of companies to make an announcement is SAP, coinciding with the publication of SAP Integrated Report 2020.

Mainly due to the travel restrictions and the changes in the way its 100,000 global employees worked during the COVID-19 pandemic, SAP managed to go beyond expectations of reducing its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020. Following the shift to a remote working set-up, carbon emissions caused by office buildings’ operations and the daily commute have nosedived. Not to mention the sharp downturn in business flights contributed significantly to the software giant’s reduced carbon footprint last year.

Consequently, SAP has overachieved its target for net carbon emissions reduction by 43{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22}, generating 135 kilotons (kt) instead of the expected 238 kt. By advancing towards carbon-neutral operations, SAP emphasises its role as a leader in climate protection. Describing the announcement as a ‘nice surprise’, SAP CEO Christian Klein stated in his LinkedIn post:

“Our continued efforts, together with reduced travel and commuting, enabled us to overachieve by 43{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} on our target for reducing net carbon emissions in 2020.​ Sustainability presents a unique opportunity for us to create a lasting, positive impact for future generations. In addition to pursuing our own goals, we help our customers to achieve their carbon objectives and make responsible business decisions.”

“Because we are convinced that intelligent enterprises can make sustainability profitable and profitability sustainable,” he stressed.

Achieving Net Zero Carbon Emissions Target

For SAP, achieving carbon-neutrality in its operations means taking into account all of its direct and indirect emissions. It also considers selected emissions arising in the supply chain such as those connected to third-party data centres, business travel in rental cars, and business flights. The company aims to avoid generating GHGs through different business practices, such as utilising telecommunication technologies instead of travelling.

Furthermore, the German tech giant leverages innovations like alternative mobility solutions, efficient cooling systems, and energy-efficient lighting in offices if carbon emissions are unavoidable. It also works with partners who meet The Gold Standard Foundation’s quality standards and supports climate projects to offset emissions that cannot be avoided.

At the same time, SAP has been driving new corporate initiatives, such as placing an internal carbon price on business flights. Aiming to contribute to the reduction of global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the company has also been following a science-based climate target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). 

Implementing Climate Protection Measures

Focusing particularly on Climate Action goals, SAP supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations General Assembly. With this, the enterprise software company aims to assist its over 400,000 global customers in implementing climate protection initiatives through programs like the Climate 21 offering.

Talking about the Climate 21 initiative, SAP APJ President Paul Marriott said that the company aims to drive environmental and sustainable measures in APJ. Studies have indicated that the region is the world’s major contributor of carbon emissions footprint, generating approximately 17 billion metric tons per year. He said:

“We aim to onboard the top organisations through 2021 to our Climate 21 initiative in APJ – ‘21 in 21’, to help reduce their carbon footprint.”

On top of this, SAP has been using 100{aa282f308afcc222aaa21b0478c79e01a8fedd01972e2180867097bd93930f22} renewable energy to operate all of its data centres since 2014. It also offers cloud solutions that are carbon-neutral to its customers. The upcoming SAP Sustainability Summit on April 28–29, 2021 will provide more information on solutions related to environmental sustainability, as well as on the circular economy, reporting, and holistic steering.

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The recent SAPPHIRE NOW Converge, one of the three core initiatives of the digital event SAPPHIRE NOW Reimagined, has put the spotlight back on the global existential challenge climate change. Thomas Sausserig, a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE for SAP Product Engineering, gave a solid reminder on SAP’s commitment to delivering innovations that champion customers’ business stability amid the changing environmental and market factors.

“In today’s hyperconnected world, it’s even more important for businesses to quickly react to environmental and market changes. We’re helping to address these challenges with new ways for customers to address sustainability, lead in their industry, and grow their business networks. SAP has the strategy, expertise, solutions, and partner ecosystem to enable customers to run their business as an intelligent enterprise,” he said.

While most governments, consumers, investors, NGOs, and even employees initiate the shift towards sustainable business practices, leveraging technology catapults the intention. To help enterprises and company leaders manage their “green line”, SAP has released its first solution in its Climate 21 program, an initiative to support customers in pursuing their climate-related objectives- the SAP® Product Carbon Footprint Analytics.

Climate 21

The Climate 21 initiative in 2020 acts as a springboard for companies preparing for a change driven by incentive and choice.

“Climate 21 is the embodiment of the intelligent enterprise because it spans the end-to-end business processes across both companies and industries,” shared Saueressig as he addressed participants at SAPPHIRE NOW.

SAP takes the challenge of managing the complex accounting of consumer products, chemicals, and oil and gas carbon footprints, which involves the analysis of multiple production sites and production steps. As a trusted partner of enterprises around the world for nearly 50 years, the German company has been managing resources of partners and customers to drive revenue, reduce cost, optimise asset utilisation, streamline supply chains, and improve customer service. SAP harnesses the large base data needed to determine carbon footprints that are already in SAP systems, like the bill of materials, energy usage, procurement data, and master data. 

In Sauserrig’s article Our Decade of Delivery for Climate, he said:

“It is in our DNA to build software that helps companies measure, account, and take the right action in dynamic and heterogeneous regulatory environments.”

He also explained that the upside of climate change is its convenient measurable performance unit in the form of CO₂ to drive and track performance at a global, national, and industrial levels. 

SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics

SAP solutions accounting for CO₂ and other greenhouse gases are integral to the enterprise’s digital core.

SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics based on SAP S/4HANA, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Cloud Platform delivers carbon emission insights for a company’s products by plant, profit center, or cost center. The solution offers carbon transparency of a product across the entire value chain, including production, raw materials, energy use, and transport. Producers can also integrate data from product databases and third-party solutions to analyse and understand the emissions breakdowns.

Toby Croucher, head of Solution Management for Climate 21 and Sustainability at SAP said:

“Our goal is to create transparency about carbon emissions all the way through the value chain, across industries, geographies, products, and services.” 

“Creating transparency of the carbon footprint straight through to the consumer will help inform climate-responsible buying and consumption,” he added.

Advocating transparency about the carbon footprint for any good or service applies today more than ever as consumers become more and more conscious of their contribution to the reduction of carbon footprints.

Doehler, a global producer, marketer, and provider of technology-driven natural ingredients, ingredient systems, and integrated solutions for the food and beverage industry, is the first to go live with SAP Product Carbon Footprint Analytics.

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