Principles for Blockchain-Based Emissions Reporting

This RMI briefing proposes a standard, open-source, blockchain-based technical architecture to transform greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting. The goal is to move from static, average-based reporting to a system using primary data at the product level, enabling better procurement decisions to lower Scope 3 emissions through a verifiable, digital audit trail across supply chains.

• Current emissions accounting is insufficient for driving procurement decisions because it often relies on averages and assumptions rather than primary data. The GHG Protocol's Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard is specifically noted as not being designed to support comparisons between companies based on their scope 3 emissions.
• RMI proposes a blockchain-based architecture where emissions are represented as 'digital twins' that flow through the supply chain. This system uses a 'digital wallet' for each product to track its emissions, allowing facilities to see the aggregate supply chain (Scope 3) emissions associated with each entity.
• The proposed system is built on four core principles: 'Name it' (using content addressing/CIDs for secure data identification), 'Own it' (using DIDs and VCs to remove intermediaries and ensure secure access), 'Record it' (creating verifiable audit trails via blockchain), and 'Trade it' (standardizing units of trade as embodied CO2e).
• To ensure data integrity and transparency, the architecture utilizes content addressing via cryptographic hashing. This creates content identifiers (CIDs) that act as 'fingerprints' for data, allowing actors to verify that information has not been tampered with, unlike traditional location-based URLs.
• The technical framework suggests using specific Ethereum token standards to make GHG attributes tradable. It recommends the ERC-721 standard for individual parcels of embodied emissions and the ERC-998 composable token standard to represent a portfolio of digital assets or a complete supply chain operation.
• The proposed solution aims to replace traditional client/server models—where data is siloed in enterprise databases and reported via PDFs and Excel—with a user-centric, decentralized model that uses activity-level data to calculate product-level emissions footprints.

APA

Cannon, C., Hughes, S., Johnson, M., Long, E., & Natali, P. (2022). Principles for Blockchain-Based Emissions Reporting. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/02/principles_for_blockchain_based_emissions_reporting.pdf

Chicago

Cannon, Charles, Shannon Hughes, Marc Johnson, Emily Long, and Paolo Natali. Principles for Blockchain-Based Emissions Reporting. RMI, 2022. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/02/principles_for_blockchain_based_emissions_reporting.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cannon |first1=Charles |last2=Hughes |first2=Shannon |last3=Johnson |first3=Marc |last4=Long |first4=Emily |last5=Natali |first5=Paolo |title=Principles for Blockchain-Based Emissions Reporting |publisher=RMI |date=February 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/02/principles_for_blockchain_based_emissions_reporting.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cannon2022principles, author = {Cannon, Charles and Hughes, Shannon and Johnson, Marc and Long, Emily and Natali, Paolo}, title = {{Principles for Blockchain-Based Emissions Reporting}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2022/02/principles_for_blockchain_based_emissions_reporting.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }