Carbon Footprints Move Beyond ESG Reports: The New Equation of Competitiveness
Carbon accounting is no longer confined to ESG reports. For companies operating with Europe, it is beginning to directly impact procurement, suppliers, products, and ultimately, their ability to remain competitive. This was a key takeaway from the panel “Carbon, Regulation, and European Requirements: The New Equation of Competitiveness,” held during the 4th edition of the African ESG Summit organized by Managers Magazine.
Industrial Reality in Tunisia
For Myriam Elloumi, President of the TAA (Tunisian Automotive Association), Tunisian industrialists are already facing this reality. Deeply integrated into European value chains, the automotive industry must meet requirements that go beyond its own operations. European clients are increasingly demanding information on emissions associated with suppliers and other partners across the value chain.
Internal Organizational Shifts
This evolution forces companies to rethink their internal organization. Calculating a product’s carbon footprint requires aggregating data from multiple functions. At COFICAB, Myriam Elloumi explains that she had to mobilize a team of approximately 15 people from various departments to address this challenge.
Noureddine Hajjaji, Associate Professor at ENIG, emphasizes the need to distinguish between a company’s carbon balance and a product’s carbon footprint:
- Company Carbon Balance: Measures the organization’s overall emissions.
- Product Carbon Footprint: Attributes specific emissions to a particular product.
This distinction becomes strategic when environmental requirements are integrated into commercial relationships.
Beyond Compliance: Scope 3 and Procurement
The issue now extends beyond mere compliance. Warrick Fuchsloch, Global Lead Sustainability for Corporates at S&P Global, highlights that the progression of Scope 3 reporting is already altering purchasing behaviors. When a major buyer lacks emission data from a supplier, they must rely on estimates or emission factors. Consequently, data provided directly by suppliers becomes significantly more valuable.
Impact on Financing and Management
This trend can also influence financing. According to Fuchsloch, investors are increasingly favoring companies and projects that can demonstrate their environmental performance, as emissions and decarbonization trajectories play a growing role in investment decisions.
For Tunisian companies, the challenge is less about producing a new ESG document and more about building genuine measurement capabilities. Reliable data, supplier traceability, and knowledge of emissions are gradually becoming essential management tools. Within European value chains, carbon is transitioning from an environmental indicator to a commercial data point.
The European Regulatory Landscape
European developments are moving in the same direction: sustainability reporting rules continue to structure information requests within value chains. However, the European Union initiated a simplification of the framework in 2026, reducing its scope for certain companies.
