How Should Enterprises Design Control Models for Decarbonisation Execution?

What if your decarbonisation programme were managed with the same rigour, cadence and capital discipline as your core business operations? 

According to CDP, companies disclosing climate data identified over US$1.2 trillion in climate-related financial risks, primarily linked to operational emissions and energy exposure. However, in many organisations, emissions data, capital allocation choices, and operational controls remain in isolated systems. This disconnection is rapidly evolving into a strategic disadvantage. 

In response, decarbonisation control towers are emerging. For forward-thinking companies, these towers signify a transition from disjointed sustainability efforts to a cohesive operating framework where emissions, costs, risks, and performance are overseen from a unified decision-making hub. 

From sustainability dashboards to enterprise control towers

 

Traditional ESG dashboards were created for reporting cycles and external disclosures. In contrast, control towers are intended for ongoing operational decision-making. 

Fundamentally, decarbonisation control towers amalgamate real-time or near-real-time data from operations, finance, and ESG systems, empowering executives to balance cost, carbon, and risk swiftly. This approach reflects the advancements observed in supply chain and revenue control towers over the past decade, now being applied to emissions-heavy value chains. 

Industry leaders are already indicating this trend. Schneider Electric, a global energy management and automation company, has implemented an internal carbon control framework that links plant-level energy data with financial performance and carbon reduction objectives across over 200 locations. This integration has enabled Schneider to separate revenue growth from total emissions, resulting in a 27% decrease in operational emissions from 2019 to 2023, while maintaining revenue growth. 

Why integration across operations, finance and ESG is now non-negotiable 

Decarbonisation choices are increasingly associated with direct financial impacts. Mechanisms for carbon pricing, fluctuations in energy markets, and customer procurement demands are all converging on the profit and loss statement. 

Operational teams manage the operational levers. Finance teams oversee capital distribution and risk assessment. ESG teams are responsible for setting targets, methodologies, and disclosures. In the absence of a unified record system, decisions are made sequentially rather than coordinated. 

According to research from the International Energy Agency, enhancing operational efficiency can achieve over 40% of the emissions reductions needed this decade, often yielding a positive net present value. Nevertheless, these opportunities are usually postponed because emissions data is not integrated into investment governance frameworks. 

A control tower addresses this issue by incorporating emissions metrics directly into capital approval processes, operational planning, and performance management. Carbon is treated as a managed variable rather than a retrospective outcome. 

Architecture of a decarbonisation control tower

 

Effective control towers share a common architectural logic, even when deployed across different sectors. 

Unified data backbone: Leading organisations amalgamate detailed operational data, energy usage, procurement details, and supplier emissions into a unified platform. Salesforce, a global enterprise software company, utilises its Net Zero Cloud to consolidate Scope 1, 2, and selected Scope 3 data across its worldwide operations, enabling finance and sustainability leaders to work from a unified dataset. 

Embedded financial intelligence: Control towers convert carbon data into financial indicators such as marginal abatement cost, the effects of internal carbon pricing, and balance sheet exposure. Ørsted, a global renewable energy firm based in Denmark, consciously incorporates carbon economics into its investment strategies, facilitating its shift from fossil fuel-dependent assets to renewable sources while ensuring robust shareholder returns. 

Decision orchestration: Control towers focus on prioritising interventions based on operational viability, financial returns, and emissions effects. This enables organisations to organise actions sequentially rather than engaging in uncoordinated pilot projects. 

Adoption patterns across complex organisations

 

The adoption of control tower models is not limited to global incumbents. 

Watershed, a climate data and analytics firm based in the US and established in 2019, assists mid-sized and large enterprises by merging emissions data with financial planning tools. Organisations like Stripe and Airbnb utilise Watershed to connect decarbonization strategies with procurement and capital decisions, facilitating a more disciplined approach to achieving science-based targets. 

In the heavy industry sector, Tata Steel, one of the largest steel manufacturers globally and based in India, has made investments in digital platforms that combine plant-level emissions data with financial forecasting. This enables the company to evaluate hydrogen-based steel production, carbon capture investments, and energy efficiency improvements within a unified decision-making framework. 

These instances demonstrate a recurring trend. Control towers are being adopted where emissions reduction aligns with fundamental operational and capital strategies, regardless of the company's size. 

Governance, accountability and organisational impact

 

Technology alone does not create a control tower. Governance models are equally critical. 

Leading organisations designate explicit responsibility for carbon performance on par with cost and quality. This frequently involves connecting executive rewards to emissions intensity metrics and incorporating carbon thresholds into investment committees. 

Unilever, a global consumer goods company, has integrated climate metrics into its brand and category performance assessments, ensuring that decarbonization choices are considered alongside financial margin and growth. This strategy has enabled Unilever to advance towards its goal of achieving net zero emissions throughout its value chain by 2039 while sustaining competitive performance. 

Control towers also transform the function of ESG teams. Instead of merely serving as reporting entities, they evolve into system architects and custodians of decision intelligence. 

What distinguishes leaders from followers

 

Leaders distinguish themselves in three ways. 

• They focus on operational depth rather than surface-level aggregation.
  

• They embed carbon metrics directly into financial and operational workflows rather than creating parallel reporting layers.
  

• They design for decision velocity, enabling rapid responses to energy price shocks, regulatory changes, and supply chain disruptions. 

According to an analysis by McKinsey, firms that incorporate sustainability into their fundamental operations are more likely to meet emissions goals while surpassing their competitors in total shareholder returns. The control tower is becoming an increasingly important means through which this integration takes place. 

The strategic imperative ahead 

Decarbonisation is entering a phase defined by execution rather than ambition. Targets are set. Capital is constrained. Scrutiny is increasing. 

The challenge for leadership teams has shifted from whether to decarbonise to how to implement decarbonisation with the same rigour as other business operations. Control towers offer the organisational and digital framework necessary to achieve this. 

For organisations in energy-intensive, regulated or global markets, decarbonisation control towers are rapidly emerging as a competitive advantage. They transform climate strategies into operational realities, align financial goals with emissions results, and convert ESG from a compliance requirement into a performance driver. 

In the coming decade, the most resilient companies will be those that regard carbon as a fundamental management variable. The control tower is where this transformation initiates.