A shortage of information on emissions measurements is raising concerns ahead of the introduction of strict new EU climate legislation.
That’s according to AESSEAL’s Head of Procurement Christian Pulman, who says that forthcoming regulations such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will require a significant amount of product data.
Christian says that the new legislation will require many of AESSEAL’s products to carry a Digital Product Passport (DPP). Ensuring that they have the data needed to comply with the new regulations has been high on his list of priorities. The problem is, he says, that this emphasis on compliance is not shared throughout the industry.
“For us to gather the necessary data means that manufacturers in our supply chain should be able to measure the emissions associated with the products they're making,” Mr Pulman says, “but in practice not many do.”
For example, he says, of the many steel mills across Europe supplying materials for the company’s seals, only the largest have been able to provide reliable information on the emissions associated with their products.
Worryingly, this lack of focus on environmental sustainability is being reflected across the Atlantic.
With the focus of the Trump administration being on cutting spending by reducing the size of government agencies, prioritising environmental sustainability, Christian says is no longer on the cards. The result has been a decline in the flow of essential information from American suppliers.
“US manufacturers are simply no longer incentivized to produce this information,” he says.
One of the priorities of the EU’s current Environmental Action Plan, which is due to end in 2030, is to reduce environmental and climate pressures related to production and consumption.
The fear is that a shortage of the relevant data in areas such as product emissions could result in a failure to meet some of the targets which have been set.
