NYU Langone Medical – Renata Rocha Ojeda – 2024
Summary
Renata Rocha Ojeda calculated NYU Langone Health’s greenhouse gas emissions from the acquisition of goods and services.
Goals
In recognition of the impact climate change has on health, NYU Langone Health is committed to being a carbon-neutral health system by 2050 and to conducting its first institution-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory of direct and indirect emissions. EDF Climate Corps fellow Renata Rocha Ojeda calculated the organization’s 2023 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services and capital goods (scope 3 categories 1 and 2) to help the organization identify and pursue supply chain decarbonization opportunities.
Solutions
Renata tackled the challenge with a four-step approach:
1. Identify data needs and sources. Renata reviewed industry-specific guidelines, engaged with the Sustainability and Supply Chain teams, analyzed sample datasets, and identified applicable emission factors.
2. Calculate GHG emissions using the spend-based method. Engaging with internal departments, Renata classified purchasing spend with its GHG Protocol scope 3 categories and nationally standardized classification systems and emissions factors.
3. Analyze the results and formulate recommendations. Renata identified opportunities to advance internal data management, sustainable procurement, and supplier engagement to meet sustainability goals.
4. Create a calculation guide. Renata developed templates for data collection, validation, and calculation to streamline future replication of the process.
Potential Impact
This project enabled the organization to leverage cross-departmental collaboration to tackle and analyze its largest source of GHG emissions, purchased goods & services, for the first time. This analysis provided insight to identify and prioritize high-impact vendors, goods, and services, and to strategize ways to embed standardized sustainable procurement practices into existing processes. Additionally, NYU Langone Health has clear guidance on how to conduct a GHG emissions inventory for these categories in future iterations and how to improve internal data management.
