CBRE Group, one of the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firms, has announced a strategic partnership with carbon accounting software provider Emitwise, aimed at enabling CBRE to collect greenhouse gas emissions data from its supply chain, and to provide its suppliers with carbon accounting capabilities.

CBRE said that it will also make a strategic investment in Emitwise as part of the partnership.

The real estate industry is one of the world’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases, accounting for nearly 40% of global emissions. Most of those emissions, 70%, come from building operations with the other 30% coming from construction. Studies show that high emitting properties are seen as an investment risk and therefore have lower value.

The partnership will allow CBRE, its suppliers, and its clients’ suppliers to identify its greatest carbon impacts and take action to accelerate decarbonization, according to the company.

Robert Bernard, CBRE Chief Sustainability Officer said:

“Decarbonizing supply chains requires breakthroughs in using technology and data in new ways to simplify the challenges of managing complex value chains. We are excited to partner with Emitwise to help our clients reduce their carbon impact and support our efforts to decarbonize our own supply chain.”

In particular, Emitwise will advance the company’s net zero strategy by helping to track and reduce Scope 3 emissions.

Mauro Cozzi, Co-founder and CEO of Emitwise, said:

“Emitwise equips companies with the data they need to make critical procurement decisions that de-risk their supply chain in a world transitioning to net zero. We are thrilled to partner with CBRE on their efforts to reduce emissions across their supply chain.”