Interview Series: Christian Heinrich

This week’s read time: 5 minutes

Welcome to the Green Digest Interview Series, our weekly feature showcasing conversations with the industry’s leading voices - CSOs, sustainability directors, and other senior professionals shaping the sustainability landscape. Each edition dives into their professional journeys, hands-on insights, and outlook on the challenges and opportunities defining corporate sustainability.

These interviews are designed to be quick, insightful reads, offering you actionable takeaways and a personal glimpse into the people leading the way. Stay tuned for stories, strategies, and lessons that matter to you.

PROFILE

This week’s guest:

Christian Heinrich

Co-Founder & CEO of Carbmee

Professor Christian Heinrich is the Co-Founder and CEO of Carbmee, bringing a strong background in digital supply chains and business model transformation. At Carbmee, he focuses on enabling global manufacturers to manage carbon with the same precision as cost.

Carbmee’s Environmental Intelligence System (EIS™) delivers carbon accounting, Dynamic Product Carbon Footprints, and transactional-level Scope 3 transparency. The system is powered by Carbontology, one of the market’s most flexible environmental data models. Clients such as ZEISS, ZF, and KWS use Carbmee to achieve measurable outcomes, including 356% ROI, 31% Scope 3 reduction potential, and €8M in avoided carbon costs.

What is Carbmee and how does it help companies?

Carbmee connects carbon, cost, and risk into a single enterprise system. Our EIS™ integrates ERP, procurement, and supplier data to automate carbon accounting and model Dynamic Product Carbon Footprints at the SKU level. At its core is Carbontology, mapping every transaction and material to its financial and carbon impact. This enables compliance with CBAM, CSRD, and EUDR while identifying reduction levers that protect margin. Carbmee delivers financial-grade precision, turning decarbonization into measurable business outcomes—cost avoidance, competitive advantage, and resilience.

You combine carbon accounting, Dynamic Product Carbon Footprints, and Scope 3 analysis in one system. What does this unlock?

When carbon data is split across tools, companies operate on assumptions. Centralizing it into one auditable system links every emission to its financial source — supplier, material, or product. Procurement sees emissions per euro spent, R&D sees per component, and finance can model the cost of inaction. For example, ZEISS used this approach to model 90 product footprints and uncover a 31% reduction potential without cost increases. Centralization turns carbon data into operational intelligence - driving profitability, not paperwork.

Most companies say they “do Scope 3,” yet approaches remain spend-based and static. What needs to change?

Spend-based Scope 3 tells you where you spend, not where you emit. Replacing estimates with transaction-level accuracy allows companies to link carbon data directly to procurement and supplier systems. That’s how organisations like KWS calculate 30,000 supplier footprints, achieve EY-audited CSRD compliance, and pinpoint inefficiencies. The real advantage comes from quantifying both carbon and financial impact, enabling leaders to act based on cost, margin, and ROI — not averages. When viewed this way, decarbonization becomes a business optimisation engine rather than a compliance cost.

Why do supplier engagement efforts often fail, and how can companies fix them?

Most supplier engagement fails because enterprises chase perfect data while suppliers struggle with unclear expectations. The solution is a shared, structured data model that standardizes inputs and automates validation. For example, ZF onboarded 1,000+ suppliers and generated 40+ CBAM-ready reports by following clear, guided workflows. The key is making carbon data exchange as simple and reliable as an invoice, turning suppliers from data sources into value partners. That’s how collaboration scales.

What emission-reduction initiatives deliver strong ROI?

High-return initiatives connect emissions to cost drivers. When companies identify the overlap between carbon and margin, they can unlock reductions such as 40% material emission cuts through recycled inputs, supplier rebalancing that reduces millions in CBAM risk, and process efficiencies that boost profitability. ZEISS, for example, achieved a 31% Scope 3 reduction potential using Carbmee to guide targeted energy optimization. Many organisations see strong ROI and short payback periods when carbon becomes measurable in euros. Those that don’t act will increasingly see margins erode as carbon pricing becomes standard.

Can you share an example where Carbmee changed a sourcing or supplier decision?

A global automotive supplier used Carbmee to identify that 20% of suppliers drove 70% of emissions. By switching to recycled alloys, they cut material emissions by 40% and avoided €8M in CBAM costs. KWS achieved full Scope 3 transparency across 30,000 suppliers, securing EY-audited compliance while saving months of manual work. ZEISS reengineered core components to unlock a 31% reduction potential. These cases prove one thing: when companies treat carbon as capital, they turn data into decisive competitive advantage.

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