Key Takeaways
- HowGood, the world’s largest sustainability intelligence platform for the food industry, has launched its Global Carbon Database (GCD).
- The GCD offers thousands of food-specific emission factors for carbon accounting, regulatory compliance, and reduction planning.
- It is designed to address the challenges of limited budgets and growing demands for credible sustainability reporting.
- Early adopters include sustainability platforms Normative and 51toCarbonZero.
- The solution is built on HowGood’s Carbon Trust certified methodology and aligned with global standards such as the GHG Protocol.
HowGood: Addressing Industry Needs
HowGood announced the launch of its Global Carbon Database, a plug-and-play library of audit-ready emission factors tailored for the food and agriculture sectors. The tool is designed to provide food businesses with immediate access to reliable baseline data for carbon reporting and reduction initiatives.
Nina DePalma, Chief Product Officer at HowGood, said: “The industry has been asking for a tool that makes carbon reporting both accessible and credible. With the Global Carbon Database, any food business — no matter its size or resources — can meet reporting requirements quickly while laying the groundwork for deeper emissions reduction strategies.”
Features of the Global Carbon Database
The GCD is positioned as a cost-effective, scalable solution to help sustainability teams meet regulatory and corporate goals. Key features include:
- Accessibility: Affordable entry point for companies with limited resources.
- Immediate Deployment: Food-specific emission factors ready without lengthy onboarding.
- Compliance: Alignment with GHG Protocol, ISO 14067, and PACT frameworks.
- Expertise: Ingredient-level granularity reflecting real agricultural and food-system conditions.
Unlike generic emissions databases, the GCD covers a wide range of food materials, including processed products, and offers region-specific datasets.
Standardizing Carbon Data Across the Food Sector
Even prior to its official launch, the Global Carbon Database was adopted by platforms including Normative and 51toCarbonZero. These integrations aim to create consistency across the food industry by establishing a common standard for carbon reporting.
HowGood noted that the GCD is built on the same methodology as its flagship platform, Latis, enabling companies to expand from baseline reporting to advanced supply-chain footprinting without re-baselining.
HowGood: Toward Long-Term Climate Leadership
By providing an audit-ready foundation for reporting, the GCD supports compliance with leading initiatives such as CDP and SBTi. HowGood stated that the database is intended not only to help companies meet immediate reporting needs but also to enable long-term emissions reduction strategies and climate leadership across the food industry.
