Amidst the lack of a global accord on greenhouse gas emissions and the fits and starts of a U.S. climate bill, big business, shareholders and consumers have echoed a similar sentiment: If you want to do something right, do it yourself.

All three have enacted their own form of climate change legislation, holding businesses to GHG reduction targets and driving sustainability initiatives. One of the more publicized targets for emission reductions has been the supply chain -- the very fabric that drives mainstream business operations.

The New Supply Chain Regulators

Walmart, IBM, and Dell are just a few of the major brands taking steps to green their supply chain, requiring that suppliers disclose and meet various sustainability requirements. Two very big drivers for this demand are shareholders and consumers.

Ceres, a national network of investors, environmental organizations, and public interest groups, announced in March that shareholders filed a record 95 climate change-related resolutions with 82 U.S. and Canadian companies, a 40 percent increase in resolutions filed over the last year. The organization indicated this is an early sign of the, "growing pressure on companies to disclose climate risks and opportunities in the wake of the recent Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure guidance and other recent policy developments."

Consumers also favor "green" companies. A study conducted by Green Seal found that, despite the poor economy, four out of five consumers stated that they were buying green products and services.

With an increase in market demand, comes an increase in the availability and use of tools and resources to help organizations measure supply chain emissions. Groom Energy Research released a recent study that found carbon accounting software purchases will increase 600 percent by 2011.

Propelled by market drivers and armed with tools to account for carbon in the supply chain, companies are taking active steps to identify, report and justify GHG emissions.

Identifying the Problem

The key to developing an accounting system across the supply chain lies in understanding that many times the problem is finding out what the problem actually is. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying that if he had one hour to save the world, he would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. Based on the more than 100 supply chain GHG assessments I have completed for clients over the years, I can say that many organizations can benefit from this approach.

Knowing your obligations is the first step in analyzing the GHG problem. Many organizations are receiving a lot of different requests for information -- Walmart, U.S. EPA, Carbon Disclosure Project, investors and state purchasing organizations to name a few. As a result, companies struggle to define what is necessary and if a complete cradle to grave life cycle assessment is required.

Take Walmart for example. They ask for life cycle information on energy, resources, greenhouse gases, and solid wastes. The Carbon Disclosure Project asks for a GHG inventory, and government purchasing agencies ask for specific material or energy reductions. Answering these questions can be demanding, and this exercise often sparks internal struggles.