SAP Launches “Green Ledger” Initiative

By Melody Brue, Patrick Moorhead - May 29, 2023

SAP is launching its “green ledger” initiative to help companies manage and track carbon emissions and integrate sustainability efforts into their operations. The complexity of calculating and managing carbon emissions data poses a significant challenge for organizations. SAP believes accounting for carbon emissions should be treated like financial reporting, and the green ledger initiative aims to facilitate this process.

The green ledger consists of an updated version of SAP Sustainability Footprint Management, which calculates and manages carbon emissions data across the value chain, and the new SAP Sustainability Data Exchange for secure sharing of sustainability data with suppliers and partners. These tools, expected to be available later this year in SAP S/4HANA Cloud, provide a verifiable and auditable record. Many companies worry about or struggle with “greenwashing” – real or perceived – so improving data accuracy and granularity is critical. SAP leadership is wise to prioritize this.

Corporate interest in sustainability products varies depending on micro and macroeconomic factors and regulatory and consumer pressures, but SAP’s commitment to sustainability stands out. SAP’s advanced integration of sustainability products into the green ledger surpasses what other major ERP vendors offer and could incentivize customers to transition to SAP’s S/4HANA Cloud platform.

I think SAP’s initiative aligns with the increasing demand for sustainability solutions as businesses prioritize environmental responsibility.

Melody Brue
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Mel Brue is vice president and principal analyst covering modern work and financial services. Mel has more than 25 years of real tech industry experience in marketing, business development, and communications across various disciplines, both in-house and at agencies, with companies ranging from start-ups to global brands. She has built a unique specialty working in technology and highly regulated spaces, such as mobile payments and finance, gaming, automotive, wine and spirits, and mobile content, ensuring initiatives address the needs of customers, employees, lobbyists and legislators, as well as shareholders. 

Patrick Moorhead

Patrick founded the firm based on his real-world world technology experiences with the understanding of what he wasn’t getting from analysts and consultants. Ten years later, Patrick is ranked #1 among technology industry analysts in terms of “power” (ARInsights)  in “press citations” (Apollo Research). Moorhead is a contributor at Forbes and frequently appears on CNBC. He is a broad-based analyst covering a wide variety of topics including the cloud, enterprise SaaS, collaboration, client computing, and semiconductors. He has 30 years of experience including 15 years of executive experience at high tech companies (NCR, AT&T, Compaq, now HP, and AMD) leading strategy, product management, product marketing, and corporate marketing, including three industry board appointments.