ERM, the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy has worked with supply chain intelligence platform Secaro and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to launch the Clean Heat Program, designed to help address one of the challenges of industrial decarbonization: the transition to low-carbon heat across complex global supply chains.

While many companies have established climate targets, industrial process heat remains a major barrier to progress, accounting for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Despite rising regulatory scrutiny, increasing energy price volatility and growing pressure from customers and investors, heat decarbonization efforts often stall due to limited data, technical complexity and financing challenges.

The Clean Heat Program brings together Secaro’s global supply chain intelligence platform with ERM’s deep technical and advisory expertise to provide practical, implementation-focused  support to help businesses and their suppliers overcome these barriers. Secaro will provide a combination of environmental supply chain data, new heat-specific insights, analytics and solution recommendation tools, supported by its network of more than 8,000 buyers, suppliers and solutions providers. ERM will apply these insights to conduct detailed heat assessments and guide companies and their suppliers through solution identification, business case development, investment pathways and site level implementation.

“By combining Secaro’s data and ERM’s technical expertise, we can accelerate the delivery of heat decarbonization projects that have historically struggled to move beyond preliminary assessment,” said Jon Hughes, Partner at ERM. “The Clean Heat Program will provide clients with the practical implementation support required to decarbonize industrial heat while strengthening resilience, reducing risk, and unlocking value across supply chains.”

“Decarbonizing heat is now business critical,” said Emily Prior, Chief Growth Officer at Secaro. “It is an essential way to protect revenue, reduce exposure to energy price shocks, and stay ahead of regulation and investor and customer expectations.”

“Many organizations are looking at heat in isolation, comparing the current gas bill to a full switch to biomethane for example. In order to succeed in decarbonizing supply chain heat, businesses need to take a more holistic approach that starts with efficiency, and then moves to decarbonized fuels, so that the economics work. As part of this program, businesses will have access to a range of financing solutions, including access to the EU-based heat decarbonization fund and off-balance-sheet financing partners.”

AstraZeneca has joined as a founding partner, working with peers and suppliers to address heat as a priority emissions hotspot. As part of this role, AstraZeneca will contribute to program development, shared learning and cross-industry collaboration.

"It's clear that a program like this is the fastest and most effective way to decarbonize heat in our supply chain," says Rob Williams, Senior Director of Sustainable Procurement at AstraZeneca. “We are long-term partners with Secaro and ERM, and now we're expanding relationships with peers, buyers from other industries, and suppliers to plan, fund, and launch the projects that will make heat decarbonization a reality. This level of collaboration is essential."

The Clean Heat Program builds on the progress to date of industry collaborations such as the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), which has an active working group focused on supplier education and heat decarbonization. The Program will also work closely with initiatives led by the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Initiative (PSCI) and the Scope 3 Peer Group.

Organizations are invited to register their intent to join the first cohort of founding members by 31 March. More information is available at: https://secaro.io/clean-heat

About ERM

Sustainability is our business.

As the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, deploying a unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. This approach helps clients to accelerate the integration of sustainability at every level of their business.

With more than 50 years of experience, ERM’s diverse team of 8000+ experts in 40 countries and territories helps clients create innovative solutions to their sustainability challenges, unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations. Learn more here.