Framework
PACT Pathfinder Framework
Also: PACT · Partnership for Carbon Transparency · Pathfinder Framework · PACT Technical Specifications
A WBCSD-led initiative that defines a common methodology (the Pathfinder Framework) and technical specifications for calculating and exchanging cradle-to-gate product carbon footprints between companies.
The Partnership for Carbon Transparency (PACT), hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, addresses a practical problem: companies need product carbon footprints from their suppliers, but every supplier calculates and shares them differently.
The methodology
The Pathfinder Framework is a methodology for calculating cradle-to-gate PCFs in a way that conforms with ISO 14067 and the GHG Protocol Product Standard while narrowing the choices those standards leave open. It specifies boundary, allocation, data quality and reporting rules so that footprints from different suppliers can be aggregated.
The data exchange
The PACT Technical Specifications define a data model and API so that PCFs can be exchanged machine to machine between conformant software solutions. Industry data spaces such as Catena-X build on the PACT data model.
Why it matters
Scope 3 inventories are only as good as the supplier data in them. A shared methodology and exchange format make supplier-specific data usable at scale instead of falling back to industry averages.
Where Verdatir fits
Verdatir validates PACT-conformant PCFs, checks their methodology fields and emission factors, and preserves lineage so that exchanged footprints remain auditable after they leave the supplier.
Sources and further reading
In practice
Verdatir turns the rules behind this term into automated checks with a reviewer in the loop.
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