IBM has developed an application which allows businesses to calculate their impact on the environment.

Called the Carbon Tradeoff Modeller, the software calculates carbon emissions from every aspect of a company's operations, such as manufacturing, transport and energy consumption, and reveals what effect the organisation is having on the planet.

'To achieve a carbon-efficient supply chain, companies need to assess the CO2 emissions impact of their end-to-end operations,' said Sanjeev Nagrath, global leader of supply chain management at IBM Global Business Services.

'By incorporating research-based tools to model the cost and carbon impact of key steps in the supply chain, firms can take action to reduce CO2 emissions and influence suppliers' behaviour in reducing their own greenhouse gas emissions.'

The modelling tool can also predict the impact of energy-saving schemes and calculate the costs involved in reducing emissions. X