SUSTAINABILITY

From compliance to advantage with sustainability data

By: Gitte Schjøtz, EVP and Chief Business Operations and Innovation Officer, UL Solutions

Editor’s note: As part of a special Climate Week NYC 2026 guest-contributor series on USA Stories, featuring voices from organizations working alongside Siemens to advance sustainability through collaboration we asked, Gitte Schjøtz, EVP and Chief Business Operations and Innovation Officer, UL Solutions (UL), to address these key topics about sustainability data. (Siemens is a customer of UL Solutions.)

For years, companies primarily viewed sustainability data through the lens of reporting. It helped organizations respond to disclosure requirements, document progress against commitments and communicate performance to external stakeholders. Those functions remain important. But for U.S. industry, sustainability data is increasingly becoming something more consequential: an input into the decisions that determine how products are designed, which materials are used, where companies invest and how they manage increasingly complex supply chains.

That shift reflects the realities confronting industrial businesses. Customers want credible product-level information. Procurement teams need to evaluate suppliers against sustainability criteria. Regulators in many markets expect stronger evidence behind disclosures, while investors want greater visibility into risk and resilience. At the same time, manufacturers are being called upon to improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and strengthen competitiveness without compromising safety, quality, or performance. Data that remains isolated in an annual report cannot meet all those needs. It has to become part of the operating fabric of the company.

The opportunity is to turn sustainability data from a record of past performance into a trusted resource for future decisions. To make that transition, industry must build decision-grade sustainability data systems that connect enterprise, product, and supplier information; establish common definitions and accountable governance; and provide the transparency, comparability and assurance necessary for people to act with confidence. When those foundations are in place, sustainability data can help companies allocate resources with greater precision, improve products and supply chains, substantiate their claims, and translate sustainability ambition into measurable business value.

How sustainability data becomes a strategic business asset

What has changed is that sustainability performance now affects business decisions well beyond the reporting function. Customers are asking for product-level information, procurement teams are evaluating suppliers against sustainability criteria, regulators in many markets expect stronger evidence and investors want greater visibility into risk and resilience.

That means sustainability data can no longer sit in a spreadsheet and be used once a year. To become a strategic asset, it has to be connected to the way the business operates and available to the people making decisions about products, materials, suppliers and investments. When companies build that foundation, sustainability data can help them focus resources where they will have the greatest impact and create measurable business value. In that sense, good sustainability practice is simply good business practice.

What makes sustainability data decision-grade and trusted

Decision-grade sustainability data has to be accurate, consistent, traceable and relevant to the decision at hand. It also needs clear ownership and a record of where it came from, how it was calculated and when it was updated. For example, a number reported at the enterprise level may be appropriate for disclosure but not detailed enough to help a designer choose between materials or a procurement team compare suppliers.

We have found that the strongest systems connect enterprise, product and supplier data so the same trusted foundation can support many uses. Independent assurance also matters, particularly when the data supports a public claim or a significant commercial decision. It is important to stress that verification does not replace good data governance. It does, however, help turn an assertion into evidence that can be used with confidence.

How companies can build auditable sustainability data systems

I have seen companies encounter challenges involving data quality, standards alignment, supplier participation, technology integration, and verification, often all at once. But the underlying problem is usually fragmentation. Sustainability information may be spread across procurement, operations, product development, suppliers, and multiple technology platforms, with different definitions and levels of quality.

The practical starting point is not to solve everything at once, tempting as that may be. Companies should first identify the decisions the data must support, establish common definitions and governance, prioritize the most material data gaps, and build repeatable processes for collection and quality checks. Standards and interoperable systems can create consistency, while verification can test whether the information and methods are credible.

Repeat that process across the priority decisions the organization needs to support, and a connected system of systems will begin to emerge. Technology is an enabler, but clear accountability and cross-functional collaboration are what make the system work.

Why supply chain transparency depends on credible product data

For an industrial company, many of the most important sustainability impacts sit within products and supply chains rather than within its own facilities. Product- and supplier-level information provides the detail needed to understand material choices, manufacturing processes, logistics, product use, and end-of-life impacts. That supply chain transparency can reveal where the largest risks and opportunities exist, helping teams improve design, engage suppliers, strengthen resilience, and respond to new requirements.

Credible sustainability data also creates a common language across the value chain. Customers can evaluate claims, suppliers can understand expectations, regulators can see the evidence behind disclosures, and companies can have more productive conversations about improvement. Trust grows when the information is transparent, the methodology is clear, and important claims can be independently substantiated.

Why comparable product carbon footprints matter to procurement

Comparability is essential, but it has to be meaningful rather than superficial. Two product carbon footprints are only genuinely comparable when they use compatible boundaries, data-quality requirements, allocation methods, time periods, and underlying standards. Otherwise, procurement teams may appear to be comparing like with like when the calculations actually reflect different assumptions.

This is where harmonized methodologies, transparent documentation and independent review become important. The goal is not necessarily to force every product into one universal number. Rather, it is to give decision-makers enough consistency and context to determine whether a comparison is valid. When that foundation is in place, product-level sustainability data can become a practical tool for procurement, product development, supplier engagement, and other activities across a company’s value chain.

How trusted sustainability data turns ambition into implementation and proof

Organizations around the world are in different stages of moving from goals to action. I’m particularly optimistic about the focus we’re seeing on product-level sustainability, and a renewed focus on supply chains. But real progress at a global scale will depend on collaboration across industries and stakeholders. And I firmly believe this is best enabled by having common standards and connected data systems that help organizations measure, compare, and improve performance.

Assurance, testing and verification to commonly accepted standards with trustworthy data provide confidence that solutions perform as intended and that sustainability claims are supported by evidence, helping build trust throughout the value chain. And all of that must be done while ensuring that new materials, products and infrastructure don’t introduce new safety risks or compromise performance. That's a big reason why, at UL Solutions, we see safety and sustainability as closely connected. Ultimately, organizations that lead in the transition will be those that use trusted data and independent validation to make informed decisions as they turn sustainability commitments into strategy, and that strategy into measurable outcomes.

Sustainability data now has a role that reaches far beyond disclosure. When information is accurate, traceable, comparable, and connected across the enterprise, products and supply chain, it can support better design choices, more informed procurement, stronger supplier engagement, and greater confidence in public claims. Decision-grade sustainability data can also give companies a clearer view of where their most significant risks and opportunities lie. With common standards, transparent methodologies, effective governance, and appropriate assurance, data becomes not merely evidence of compliance, but infrastructure for resilience, improvement, and business performance.

The next step for industry stakeholders is to make this approach operational. Business leaders should identify the decisions that sustainability data must support, assign clear ownership, align definitions across functions and suppliers, and prioritize the product and value-chain information that matters most. Technology providers, standards organizations, assurance bodies, policymakers, and industrial companies must continue working together to make data more interoperable, comparable, and credible. Maintaining progress will depend on moving beyond isolated reporting exercises and building trusted systems that help people make better decisions every day. That is how industry can turn sustainability commitments into proof, and sustainability data into lasting competitive advantage.

Published: September 15, 2026