Global Carbon Data Expansion Initiative Introduced by Watershed and Stanford
The Stanford Sustainable Solutions Lab, a part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, is spearheading research on sustainability challenges in energy and food systems. This research is focused on preserving and expanding open access to essential data for carbon accounting, specifically Scope 3 emissions.
In 2025, the Cornerstone initiative was launched, a collaboration between the Stanford Sustainable Solutions Lab and Watershed. Dr. Wesley Ingwersen, the former EPA lead and architect of the US Environmentally-Extended Input-Output model (USEEIO), is the Technical Director of this initiative.
Cornerstone serves as the central hub for two leading carbon accounting models: USEEIO and Watershed’s Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive (CEDA). These models together account for approximately 65% of global Scope 3 corporate carbon measurements, according to CDP data.
The initiative aims to merge USEEIO and CEDA into a single global open multi-regional input-output model. This merge is expected to improve accuracy in measuring Scope 3 emissions and broaden assessments to include other environmental impacts like regional air and water quality, water use, and waste generation.
This unified model is expected to enhance data-driven, standardized Scope 3 carbon accounting for thousands of organizations worldwide. The ceasing of updates to USEEIO by the EPA has left a critical gap, which Cornerstone aims to address.
The research for this initiative is led by Dr. Steve Davis, with Dr. Sangwon Suh, Head of Science at Watershed and developer of CEDA, also part of the leadership team. Christian Anderson, co-founder of Watershed, expressed hope that the combined data models would help companies and organizations maintain momentum on sustainability.
Moreover, Cornerstone aims to foster a global community of researchers and practitioners. It also plans to offer education on using Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) data for corporate sustainability and policy research.
To stay updated on the Cornerstone initiative, follow them on their website and LinkedIn. The unification of these two dominant models into one improved, transparent, and open-access framework is set to have a significant impact on Scope 3 carbon accounting, supporting policy research and corporate sustainability efforts with better foundational data.
- The Cornerstone initiative, a collaborative effort between the Stanford Sustainable Solutions Lab and Watershed, aims to improve accuracy in measuring corporate Scope 3 emissions by merging two leading carbon accounting models, USEEIO and Watershed’s CEDA, thus addressing a critical gap left by the EPA's ceasing of USEEIO updates.
- The unified global open multi-regional input-output model developed by Cornerstone expands assessments beyond Scope 3 emissions, encompassing other environmental impacts such as regional air and water quality, water use, and waste generation, thereby supporting policy research and corporate sustainability efforts with better foundational data.
- Beyond advancing corporate sustainability and policy research through improved carbon accounting, Cornerstone also plans to cultivate a global community of researchers and practitioners, offering education on utilizing Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) data for these purposes.
