Current Projects
Completed Projects
Carbon Catalogue is the world's first interactive data visualization tool of product carbon footprints, displaying carbon footprints of various consumer products. 886 products made by 145 companies from 28 countries were analyzed through voluntary submission of companies' data to CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). The wheel-like tool breaks down the carbon footprint of products during their entire life cycle from raw material to later downstream phases. Companies' improvements in reducing product emissions are also displayed such as instituting sustainable practices, replacing fossil fuels with bioenergy, and lowering energy consumptions of computers.
Funded by: CoClear (Columbia University start-up)
Other partners: CoClear, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
Initiated through a competitive selection process by Columbia World Projects in 2019, Columbia's Research Program on Sustainability Policy and Management (SPM) partnered with Colgate Palmolive Inc., the World Resource Institute, and IBM's Watson Research Center to develop an AI-based open-source methodology for managing greenhouse gas emissions associated with packaged consumer products. The project will use Columbia's patented fast product carbon footprinting and machine learning to analyze carbon footprints of product portfolio and evaluate how to reduce the carbon emissions.
Funded by: Columbia World Projects
Other partners: Colgate-Palmolive Company, World Resources Institute