Principles for Blockchain-Based Emissions Reporting

RMI proposes a decentralized, open-source technical architecture to replace static, estimate-based carbon accounting with a blockchain-based system. The proposed system focuses on the exchange of primary emissions data at the product level, using 'digital twins' to track embodied carbon from source to sale. This approach aims to improve the veracity of Scope 3 emissions reporting and enable more informed procurement decisions to drive industrial decarbonization.

• Current emissions accounting often relies on averages and assumptions, which the GHG Protocol states "is not designed to support comparisons between companies based on their scope 3 emissions."
• The proposed solution shifts from estimating figures using generalized emissions factors to tracking activity-level data to determine product-level emissions footprints.
• The architecture is based on four principles: 'Name it' (using content addressing like CIDs for data integrity), 'Own it' (using DIDs and VCs for decentralized identity and secure exchange), 'Record it' (creating immutable audit trails via blockchain), and 'Trade it' (standardizing units of embodied CO2e).
• The system envisions a 'digital twin' for every emission and a 'digital wallet' for each product to represent its emissions, allowing facilities to see the trace of product emissions flowing through the supply chain.
• To ensure comparability, the unit of trade for GHG attributes is a standard amount of embodied carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), supplemented by the COMET Framework to harmonize accounting methodologies.
• The technical implementation suggests using specific Ethereum token standards: ERC-721 for individual parcels of embodied emissions and ERC-998 for portfolios of digital assets representing a complete supply chain operation.

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} }