Why acquisition-driven groups have it hardest
For a group that grows by acquisition, every new company means a new finance system, new data sources, new suppliers and a new baseline. If climate reporting relies on an annual consulting project, the work has to be redone every time the group grows. Meanwhile, owners, investors and EU regulation, including the CSRD, demand data that can be audited.
Four principles that work in a decentralised group
1. Collect locally, consolidate centrally. Companies deliver data in their own formats. The group sees the whole picture.
2. Accept different data sources. You cannot require every acquisition to change systems before it can report. The platform has to handle data as it is.
3. Make every record traceable. Source, classification, chosen emission factor, version and calculation date must be traceable. That is the difference between a number and audit evidence.
4. Make acquisition a process, not a project. A new company is connected in a repeatable flow, using the same method as the rest of the group.
Case: Nordic Climate Group
Nordic Climate Group, the Nordic leader in cooling, heating and energy-efficient installations, has signed a group-wide agreement with CO2check. More than 60 companies in the group are being connected to the platform, where climate data is collected locally and consolidated centrally. Read the press release.
This is how Malin Appelgren, Head of Sustainability and Development, describes the collaboration:
> “When we chose CO2check, it was crucial to find a partner willing to immerse itself in our business and our challenges. It quickly turned out that they could adapt to us and our differently formatted data sources so that we could smoothly produce correct emission data.”
And on the value of the data afterwards:
> “For us it is particularly valuable that climate data does not stop at reporting, but can also be used as concrete input in customer dialogues, tenders and business decisions.”
The method behind the numbers
CO2check follows the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and Scope 3 Standard. Calculations are hybrid: activity-based where primary data exists, otherwise spend-based using EXIOBASE. Every record has a traceability log. Read more about Scope 3 and climate accounts.
Checklist before the next acquisition
- Which systems and data sources does the company have?
- Which period and baseline should apply?
- Who owns the data locally, and who consolidates centrally?
- Which records need activity data, and where is spend data enough?
Want to see what an acquisition-driven flow could look like for you? Get in touch.