Reliable tracking of environmental footprint data is a global concern for corporations, governments, and consumers.
Accurate data on emissions, material, and energy consumption is essential for mandatory compliance reporting and meeting transparency demands. It is also key in taking action to avoid, reduce, and offset emissions.
Organizations today face many significant challenges when it comes to managing their environmental footprints, including:
- Increasing requirements for reliable environmental disclosure to customers, regulators, and society
- Consistency in data measurement, compatibility, and interoperability throughout supply chains
- A lack of standards for recording and processing environmental footprint data
The Open Footprint® Forum will create a common model for footprint-related data covering all types of emissions, consumptions (e.g., water, land, energy), and base calculations to normalize and aggregate data.
Download the Open Footprint Data Model Standard, Version 1.0, Snapshot 1 here
Currently, there are no standards for storing, definitions, and access to greenhouse gases (GHG) scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions data, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N20). The lack of standards in this area has major business implications. For example, in a supply chain with multiple companies taking part, when the recipient of the supply chain wants to calculate the total carbon footprint of their end product it is virtually impossible, since each participant of the supply chain has collected and stored the data using their own definitions and calculations. This is because the reference values, relationships between data types, and data definitions are not standardized. Therefore, it is difficult and unnecessarily laborious to arrive at meaningful numbers. Without standards in this area, the practical reality for most organizations is that they have to share data on spreadsheets and be subject to significant manual data conversion efforts.
The supply chain (scope 3 indirect emissions) is just one example. However, there are many areas of emissions data management where universally adopted standards are urgently needed.
The Open Footprint® Forum provides an open, vendor-neutral environment where Members of the emissions ecosystem from across all industries collaborate to develop data management standards. The aim of the Forum is to develop a single set of data and metadata definitions - The Open Footprint Data Model.
When each company or organization has implemented the Open Footprint Data Platform, they will use the same definitions allowing emissions data to be more easily shared, and the carbon values to be aggregated much more efficiently, reducing wasted time and money. In addition, this enables organizations to focus their time and effort on applications to make better use of this data. This creates real business value, where organizations can differentiate and innovate.
The Open Footprint initiative is more than a set of standards. It is also:
- A Reference Architecture
- Open Source-based reference tools
- A single set of reference application programming interfaces (APIs) to access the data
- A Data Model supporting the World Economic Forum (WEF) GHG Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)/PACT framework, GHG Protocol, and other audit and reporting standards (e.g., ISSB, GRI, PCAF, and others)
- Documentation for all of the above deliverables
An important characteristic of the open source tools under development is that upon using them, the organization determines who gets access to their data, and what elements of the data they are permitted to see.
The Open Footprint Forum is working with various other standards and reporting bodies such as SASB, WEF, GRI, PCAF, and WBCSD to explore how we can better align our standards (as per above) and their reporting standards.
The Open Footprint Forum welcomes all organizations interested in joining the Forum, including but not limited to Business, Sustainability, and IT Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) including end-user organizations in all industries, software solution providers, academia, consulting companies, audit firms, and government regulatory agencies.
By joining the Open Footprint Forum, your organization will:
- Be seen as a leader in the development of open, interoperable environmental footprint measurement standards and solutions benefitting all companies and society at large
- Help to drive down the cost of measuring and managing environmental footprint, for your organization and for your supply chain
- Ensure that the standards and data platform that will emerge from the Open Footprint initiative will meet your organization’s needs
- Gain early access to the emerging standard and data platform
- Become part of the environmental footprint data measurement ecosystem
Without the Open Footprint Forum, organizations would resort to acquiring or building incompatible and expensive custom solutions that don’t interoperate throughout their supply chains.
For a list of our current members please click here.
The Open Footprint® Forum regularly presents at both third-party industry events and those hosted by The Open Group. Upcoming events include:
Emissions Tracking, Reporting and Compliance, Houston, TX - February 26-27, 2025
The Open Group Summit Amsterdam, NL - May 19-21, 2025
Get Involved and Gain Influence in Defining Open Standards and Certifications
Being a Member of The Open Group gives organizations early access to the latest information and developments regarding open standards and best practices and enables them to participate in our highly influential Forums and Work Groups. We provide a collaborative, vendor-neutral environment where member representatives can:
- Network with a world-class community of peers, experts, and industry leaders
- Have early access to information on industry developments
- Gain insight for future decisions from both major customers and technology suppliers
- Influence outcomes that benefit their organizations
- Grow professionally and enhance their credibility in the industry
- Receive education in best practices
If your organization is not yet a Member of the Open Footprint Forum and would like to get involved, please click below!