Carbon accounting is quickly becoming a mandatory expectation for businesses of all sizes globally. Yet for many, the data and tools to do it are complex and inaccessible. Without reliable emissions figures, businesses risk being locked out of global markets, not because of their environmental impact but because they cannot credibly prove it.
A TRaCE-supported collaboration between FootprintLab, UNSW and the University of Sydney is working to close that gap, by getting credible data into the hands of the businesses and banks that need it most.
Turning economic data into environmental insight
FootprintLab co-founders Janet Salem and Dr. Tim Baynes saw a fundamental barrier to ambitious climate policy. There was no shortage of decarbonisation solutions. What was missing was the regulatory demand to scale them. Without strong policy, climate action is limited to measures that already had a return on investment under business as usual.
Their insight was simple: if businesses could easily measure their supply chain greenhouse gas emissions, policymakers would be far more likely to mandate public disclosure. So FootprintLab set out to build the data infrastructure that could make that possible.
Few people know that IELab, a virtual laboratory managed by UNSW, supplies the United Nations with one of the largest supply chain wide environmental footprint datasets in the world. Powered by cutting-edge computational models developed at the University of Sydney, IELab continuously updates economic relationships between industries and countries, working with universities globally to calculate the environmental footprint of virtually any product, service or financial transaction. FootprintLab’s mission is to create a pipeline between this data and the financial infrastructure and tools that businesses already use.
“The rise of fintech and digital economy innovations has created a vast data interface with the global economy where the data can be embedded,” said Janet Salem. “This means it is already possible today to enrich every financial decision – how we spend, lend, invest – with climate insights. You can see the shift in thinking about the return-on-investment on climate solutions. Boards, shareholders and investors do not want to be exposed to the risks high carbon footprints have on their bottom line.”
FootprintLab translates IELab’s data into the formats financial systems already understand, then delivers it through APIs straight into existing banking and accounting platforms. Businesses get real-time access to environmental data without changing how they work.
Real-world impact from Sydney to Southeast Asia
This unique capability is already making an impact internationally. FootprintLab partnered with Wing Bank to make it the first bank in Cambodia to offer ESG accounting data to business customers, alongside carbon footprint insights on individual transactions.
The commercial stakes of this deal are significant. Cambodia’s garment and textile sector exported nearly $14 billion worth of goods in 2024, employing close to a million workers, with the majority of them being women working in small to medium-sized enterprise.
As the European Union moves to mandate full environmental disclosures across supply chains through its Digital Product Passport requirements, Cambodian businesses face a critical test: adapt or lose access to key export markets.
FootprintLab’s transaction-level data gives Wing Bank’s customers exactly what they need to meet those requirements, turning compliance from a burden into a springboard for more sustainable participation in the global economy.
Accelerating the engine
As data volumes grow, keeping datasets current and computationally efficient has become an increasingly real constraint. Supported by TRaCE’s Lab to Market grant, FootprintLab is deepening its collaboration with the IELab team to address that.
The three-party collaboration is led by UNSW Professor Tommy Wiedmann, a leading expert in input-output analysis and sustainability assessment, and is focused on expanding computing capacity, improving processing efficiency, and ensuring datasets are updated and validated with greater speed and accuracy.
“We’re at a point where the demand for credible emissions data is about to grow enormously. IELab has the scientific foundation to meet that demand, and this collaboration with FootprintLab and the University of Sydney is how we get it into the hands of even more businesses and organisations that will need it most,” says Professor Wiedmann.
As scope 3 emissions and ESG reporting becomes mandatory across Australia and globally, demand for reliable, science-backed supply chain data will only grow. This TRaCE-funded project is helping FootprintLab meet that need by strengthening the IELab infrastructure that underpins the platform and expanding its capacity to help make credible climate action possible at scale.
