Advanced Perspectives Program

Past Sessions

Decarbonize Your Supply Chain With Environmental Attribute Certificates

Could environmental attribute certificates (EACs) — or “insets” — help companies lower their Scope 3 emissions? How could teams get started using the mechanism that advocates said had the potential to decarbonize supply chains?

Interest in EACs was growing rapidly, with companies using the certificates to quantify and account for supply-chain investments in everything from carbon capture at natural gas power plants to low-carbon steel and cement. The proliferating projects built on the established use of EACs in aviation, where the mechanism had helped aggregate more than half a billion dollars in demand for sustainable aviation fuel since 2021. Attendees learned from and interacted with experts building the frameworks that underpin EACs and pioneering companies using the certificates to tackle Scope 3.

Is the Clean Energy Transition Still Happening?

Where did we think the energy mix was headed in 2024—and where were we actually headed? What interventions were on the horizon, and what would it take to put them in place?

The roadmap had looked clear not long before: a rapid shift toward renewables, a modernized grid, and policy momentum that seemed unstoppable. Then came shifting federal priorities, load growth that outpaced projections, and a utilities landscape navigating pressure from every direction. So where did the clean energy transition actually stand—and who was steering it?

This session brought together a former state utility regulator shaping grid operations at the regional transmission level, the chief executive of one of California’s largest community choice energy providers, a national leader in clean energy deployment advocacy, and a senior voice from the state’s largest investor-owned utility. Together, they examined how the energy mix had shifted since 2024, which policy and market interventions still held promise, and what it would realistically take to put them in place. Attendees left with a grounded view of where the transition was accelerating, where it was stalling, and what levers—regulatory, financial, and political—were still within reach.

Aggregated & Activated: How Buyers Alliances Are Accelerating Green Market Transformation

How could companies accelerate decarbonization in hard-to-decarbonize sectors like cement, heavy-duty trucking, aviation or plastics? What strategies helped sustainability leaders overcome cost barriers and build market momentum for low-carbon alternatives?

Many companies struggled to decarbonize their supply chains in heavy industries due to barriers to direct supplier engagement, a lack of available alternatives and high costs for innovative products produced at a small scale. This session demonstrated how buyers’ alliances aggregated demand to fast-track viable markets for green products and services. Attendees heard from companies participating in buyers’ alliances focused on decarbonizing aviation, cement, concrete, plastics, agriculture, maritime and trucking about how collective procurement and book-and-claim systems enabled them to support first-of-a-kind projects that proved the viability of critical climate technologies, as well as help existing climate solutions achieve commercial scale and bend cost curves down faster. With breakout groups dedicated to each major alliance, as well as one for those still trying to decide where to start, participants learned how collective procurement worked step by step and how to prioritize alliance participation based on company goals. Attendees left with clarity on how to identify and take immediate, impactful action on Scope 3 decarbonization priorities.