Microsoft and ClimateWorks Foundation launch The Carbon Call

Today, Microsoft and the ClimateWorks Foundation along with over 20 other organizations launched The Carbon Call, a collective action organization that will try to transform carbon accounting from fuzzy and frustrating into something standardized and trustworthy. 

As the number of net-zero pledges has skyrocketed from businesses over the past two years — along with skepticism about the claims — there is pressure for carbon accounting to improve.  

Right now, carbon accounting is inconsistent, confusing and not reliable. That makes it difficult for countries to track their emissions, reach their targets, provide real impact and communicate that impact effectively. Businesses have been craving some standardization. The Washington Post reported a possible 13.3 billion metric ton gap in reported country-level emissions and actual emissions.  

According to the press release about The Carbon Call launch, the organization will “mobilize collective action, investment and resources from scientific, corporate, philanthropic and non-governmental organizations to enable access to data and science that is reliable, up to date and can be easily exchanged among carbon accounting ledgers.”

Other signatories of The Carbon Call include Capricorn Investment Group, Global Carbon Project, Global Council for Science and the Environment, International Science Council, L.F. Energy, Linux Foundation, Montreal, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, the United Nations Environment Programme and the United Nations Foundation. They are using their combined influence to expand transparent reporting and build a roadmap for a carbon accounting methodology that can be easily exchanged and understood between companies, governments and other organizations.

ClimateWorks Vice President of Global Intelligence Surabi Menon told Axios that the goal is to create a carbon ledger that is a “global dashboard that tells you what exactly is happening in terms of emissions.”

The Carbon Call will focus on methane, indirect emissions, carbon removal and land-use change. The amount of investment funding and who that money will go to has not been disclosed.