Independent Non-Profit Scientific Initiative

The Scientific Infrastructure Corporate Net-Zero Requires

"The gap between climate ambition and climate action is not a gap in willpower. It is a gap in scientific foundations."

The Gigaton Project is an independent, non-profit initiative developing open-access scientific infrastructure — connecting IPCC-grade research to the corporations, cities, and policymakers who can unlock 18–21 GtCO₂e in annual reductions.

Find Your Path Our Initiatives →
18–21 Gt
Annual CO₂e reduction potential in non-state actor value chains
UNEP Emissions Gap Report, 2023
7%
of 2,000 major corporations meet minimum climate integrity standards
Net Zero Stocktake 2025
2.09×
Spread in Scope 3.1 emissions from database selection alone — for identical operations
Gudipudi et al., Nature Sustainability, 2026
36%
of Scope 3 variation unexplained by operational factors — a scientific infrastructure failure
Gudipudi et al., Nature Sustainability, 2026
Our Mission

We build the peer-reviewed scientific foundation that makes corporate and city climate commitments credible, comparable, and enforceable — closing the gap between ambition and accountability.

📐

Measurement

Harmonised Scope 3 emission factors across LCA databases, eliminating the 2.09× spread that makes corporate inventories incomparable.

Gap today
🧭

Pathways

Industry-specific net-zero roadmaps grounded in IPCC AR6 and IEA NZE 2050, with verifiable technology deployment schedules.

Gap today
⚡

Risk

ISIMIP-grounded physical risk translated into corporate financial language — facility-level exposure and supply chain cascading risk.

Gap today
Dr. Ramana Gudipudi

"The barrier is not ambition. It is the absence of peer-reviewed measurement standards, science-based pathway tools, and quantified physical risk assessments at the granularity corporate decision-making requires."

Dr. Ramana Gudipudi, Founder and Lead Scientist, The Gigaton Project
The Challenge

The Trillion-Dollar Accountability Gap

Nearly 2,000 corporations representing USD 36.6 trillion in revenue have pledged net-zero. Yet only 7% demonstrate genuine climate integrity. This is not a failure of ambition. It is a failure of scientific infrastructure.

Scope 3 emissions — which typically constitute the majority of a company's carbon footprint — lack standardised, industry-specific measurement frameworks. Database selection alone produces a 2.09× spread in reported Scope 3.1 emissions for identical operations.

Without peer-reviewed measurement standards, science-based pathways, and quantified risk tools, voluntary commitments under GHG Protocol and SBTi, and regulatory requirements under CSRD and ISSB, rest on scientifically unstable ground.

2.09×
Spread in Scope 3.1 from database choice alone
36%
Scope 3 variation unexplained by operational factors
7%
of major corporations with genuine net-zero integrity
54%
cite Scope 3 as primary obstacle to setting targets
Our Initiatives

Three Interlocking Scientific Tools

CLARITY, COMPASS, and CATALYST cover the full corporate climate challenge: measure accurately, plan credibly, and protect against physical risk.

CLARITY
Corporate LCA Intelligence & Reconciled Inventory for Transparent Yield

Harmonised Scope 3 Accounting

AI-driven reconciliation of conflicting LCA emission factor databases, producing scientifically defensible, auditable Scope 3 inventories. Starting with AI infrastructure, scaling to all sectors.

Phase 1 · Active
COMPASS
Corporate Operational Modeling for Pathway Alignment to Science-based Strategies

Industry-Specific Net-Zero Pathways

The first peer-reviewed, industry-specific decarbonisation pathway framework, integrating IPCC scenarios, technology cost curves, and supply chain economics.

Phase 1 · Active
CATALYST
Corporate Action Through Assessment of Liabilities, Yields & Strategic Transitions

Physical Risk Intelligence

Translating ISIMIP3b physical risk projections into corporate financial language — facility-level damage functions and TCFD-compliant scenario analysis.

Phase 1 · Active
The Opportunity

18–21 GtCO₂e Sits Locked in Corporate Value Chains

Non-state actors hold an estimated 18–21 GtCO₂e of annual mitigation potential. The Gigaton Project builds the scientific infrastructure to unlock it.

18–21
GtCO₂e per year · The non-state actor reduction potential · UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2023
🏭
~12 Gt

Corporations & Industries

Value chain emissions across Scope 3-heavy sectors. The largest unlockable pool, blocked by measurement and pathway gaps CLARITY and COMPASS address directly.

🏙️
~4–5 Gt

Cities & Regions

Urban emissions across buildings, transport, and circular economy. Cities control infrastructure decisions that span decades, amplifying corporate decarbonisation.

🌿
~4 Gt

Land & Natural Systems

Agriculture, forestry, and land-use transitions. Corporate value chains are the primary drivers of land-use emissions, making corporate action the key lever.

Nature Sustainability · 2026
"From Corporate Net-Zero Pledges to Credible Climate Action" — Gudipudi, Costa, Arumugam, Agarwala, Creutzig, Kropp. The peer-reviewed foundation mapping the scientific gaps that block corporate accountability.
Who We Serve

Find Your Path

The Gigaton Project serves corporations, cities, researchers, and policymakers. Each has a different entry point into our work.

🏭

Corporations & Industries

You have net-zero commitments and the operational scale to deliver. You need measurement tools that are scientifically defensible, pathways that are technically feasible, and risk assessments that are board-ready.

CLARITY: harmonised Scope 3 emission factors COMPASS: industry-specific net-zero pathways CATALYST: physical risk & TCFD scenario analysis CSRD, SBTi, ISSB, and GHG Protocol alignment
🏙️

Cities & Regions

Cities hold 70% of global emissions and the operational agility to act faster than national governments. You need science-based urban emission accounting aligned with corporate value chains.

Urban emission accounting frameworks City-corporate decarbonisation synergy tools Climate finance and Article 6 mechanisms Phase 2 strategy, launching 2027
🔬

Researchers & Policymakers

You produce the science or design the incentives. The Gigaton Project bridges peer-reviewed research to real-economy implementation, publishing in Nature journals.

Foundational paper: Nature Sustainability 2026 Collaboration with IPCC lead authors Open methodology: reproducible and citable Standard-setter engagement: GHG Protocol, SBTi
💰

Funders & Partners

You fund science that matters. The Gigaton Project is an independent non-profit seeking institutional partners for Phase 1 proof-of-concept in AI infrastructure companies.

Phase 1 funding: €1.2M over 18 months Open-access outputs, Nature-journal publication Policy impact via GHG Protocol and CSRD Co-branding and advisory board seat
The Team

Science, Policy, and Implementation

Grounded in climate science, urban systems research, and sustainability policy — with deep roots in the world's leading climate institutions.

Dr. Ramana Gudipudi
Dr. Ramana Gudipudi
Founding Director
Climate scientist and sustainability practitioner with 18+ years across peer-reviewed science, multilateral policy, and real-economy implementation. Lead author of the Nature Sustainability Perspective on corporate net-zero accountability. Policy advisory experience with EU institutions, GIZ, and the Government of India. Corporate experience with BCG and CO2AI translating science into net-zero strategies for Fortune 500 companies.
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kropp
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Kropp
Co-Founder
One of most distinguished climate impact scientists with 30+ years of research excellence. Long-Standing affiliation to the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), where he served as Deputy Chair of Climate Resilience and was developing and heading the Urban Transformations Research Area. He secured more than 40 competitive research grants (approx. €35M). Former member of Board of Governors of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Advisor to many international bodies, awarded for efficient and advanced science communication and scientific excellence. Beyond academia, he founded the award-winning Climate Media Factory and is a partner in the Bauhaus Earth Initiative which focusses on how cities can become Carbon sinks through advanced Building. His research focuses on earth system science, urban research and transformation pathways toward climate neutrality.Co-author of the foundational Nature Sustainability paper.
ORCID ID, Long Biography (PDF)
Get in Touch

Let's Build the Infrastructure Together

Whether you are a potential funder, corporate partner, policymaker, or fellow researcher — we would like to hear from you.

Research & Science

Collaborations, co-authorship, and scientific partnerships

info@gigaton-project.org

Funding & Partnerships

Institutional funders, development banks, and foundations

Schedule a briefing →

Corporate Pilots

AI infrastructure companies for Phase 1 proof-of-concept

Express interest →