What is the PACT Pathfinder Framework, and does a small supplier need to follow it?

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Senseible · Accepted Answer

The PACT Pathfinder Framework, run by WBCSD, is guidance for calculating cradle-to-gate product carbon footprints and exchanging them between companies in a common data format. It builds on ISO 14067 and the GHG Protocol Product Standard. No law requires it; a small supplier follows it only when a customer asks for PACT-aligned data. Version 2.0 was published in 2023 and the framework has been revised since. Check the latest version on the WBCSD site before you start. Methodology: how to calculate a cradle-to-gate product footprint, with extra rules where ISO 14067 and the GHG Protocol Product Standard leave choices open, such as allocation and data quality. A data model: a fixed set of fields for one footprint, so a buyer's system can read it. Technical specifications for exchanging footprints between software systems. Disclosure of how much of the footprint uses primary data, so the buyer can see data quality. Only if a customer asks. Some large manufacturers request footprints through PACT-aligned platforms or in the PACT data format. Often the customer's platform does the formatting and you only supply the inputs. If no one asks, a footprint calculated to ISO 14067 with clear documentation is enough for most buyers. The product's declared unit, for example per kg or per piece. Your own energy use per unit: electricity, fuels and steam, from bills and invoices. Main purchased materials per unit, with supplier footprints where you have them. How you split factory energy across products, and why. The share of the footprint based on your own measured data.