When applied consistently and transparently, the results could be game changing for industry, society and our planet – overcoming the complex challenges, limitations and shortcomings inherent in traditional emissions management practice.

As part of our commitment to the achievement of our vision, in 2024 Capgemini launched its purpose-built Emission Experience Center (EEC), based in Stavanger, Norway, Europe’s largest producer of oil and gas, and a hub of regional energy expertise. The EEC is dedicated to advancing and accelerating emissions management best practices and the development of scalable, interoperable and globally compliant solutions that can accelerate industry’s achievement of a net-zero future.

Reaching consensus on a standardized method of capturing, comparing and acting upon emissions data is an essential foundation stone on which we begin the next stage of our journey. To capture the industry’s voice and opinion on the proposed creation of a National Emissions Database (NED) for the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), we conducted in-depth interviews and workshops with leaders and practitioners in pivotal roles, such as Asset Managers, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Experts, CFOs (Chief Financial Officers)/finance representatives, and Information Technology Architects.

The result is a comprehensive study – Assessing the feasibility of a National Emissions Database for the Norwegian Continental Shelf. We believe that the study and its conclusions will be of value for all decision makers, embracing business strategy, technology, ESG and finance, as well as governmental and regulatory stakeholders. In this second white paper of the series we summarize the study, discuss the imperative for change, synthesize the views and insights of participants, review the case for action and explore the database’s potential architecture and content. We also examine governance and data custody models and outline next steps.

Background to the study

We believe that individual nations or businesses cannot, by themselves, solve the challenges we face, and that collaboration and co-innovation are essential to ensure the outcomes that we need, to avoid the risks and huge costs of duplication. Partnerships bring together diverse expertise and complementary perspectives, fostering synergies among multiple stakeholders to develop comprehensive, scalable and interoperable solutions that can benefit businesses, regulators and society.

The study explores the current landscape of emissions management on the NCS, examining the imperative for change in current processes, and identifying both the challenges and the opportunities that lie ahead. A key emerging theme is a shared recognition that the current fragmented and manual approaches to emissions data are no longer sustainable.

One of the central questions we wished to examine is whether there is sufficient alignment among operators to enable a “build once – deploy to many” and “collect once – report to many” approach. If so, the NCS could serve as a pioneer for scalable emissions management, securing interoperability, reducing duplication and accelerating innovation. We also wanted to explore the potential to transfer learnings and solutions beyond Norway, enabling a pathway for global enterprises to scale faster and more cost-effectively.

Crucially, this study underscores the urgency and opportunity of the moment. The path forward will require bold collaboration, shared standards, and a commitment to co-innovation. Norway brings a strong legacy of collaboration to this effort. For over 30 years, the Diskos platform has served as a national repository for petroleum data, demonstrating how shared infrastructure and governance can deliver industry-wide benefits. This long-standing experience provides a valuable foundation for building a similarly integrated and cooperative approach to emissions data.

There is a strong appetite for change towards higher data quality, integrated systems, and common standards and processes that can support both national compliance and international leadership. The feasibility study further highlights the importance of co-innovation, bringing together industry, regulators, and technology providers to co-create solutions that are interoperable, future-proof, and aligned with evolving regulatory frameworks. As one interviewee aptly noted, “We all share the earth, the atmosphere, and the oceans – co-innovation should be obvious.” This ethos underpins the collaborative spirit that is essential for success.

The imperative for change

The global push for sustainability and climate transparency has ushered in a new era of emissions reporting, particularly for high-emission industries such as Oil and Gas (O&G). Governments and standard setters across the globe have introduced binding and voluntary frameworks designed to ensure companies not only measure but also publicly report their GHG emissions. In Europe, these frameworks are becoming especially rigorous, setting the tone for a broader international shift. Central to the architecture of these standards are four universal principles: transparency, accuracy, auditability, and multi-framework compliance.

For years, companies could manage with fragmented, voluntary disclosures and patchwork data. But this is no longer sufficient. Regulatory frameworks such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and the International Financial Reporting Standards S2 (IFRS S2) are no longer aspirational, they are enforceable, time-bound, and increasingly subject to audit. The gap between regulatory expectations and organizational readiness is widening, and the cost of non-compliance – legal, financial, and reputational – is rising sharply.

This matters now because the window for strategic action is narrowing. Companies must measure their direct emissions and account for complex upstream and downstream value chain impacts. This requires a level of precision once reserved for financial data. Standards demand more than transparency – they require verifiability, consistency, and traceability. At the same time, many enterprises are operating with siloed systems, inconsistent methodologies, and limited cross-border coordination. The result is reporting delays, inflated estimates, duplicated efforts, and undermined credibility.

Yet this challenge is also an opportunity. The current regulatory convergence creates a moment to architect long-term, scalable infrastructure for emissions management. NED represents a strategic response to this convergence. Rather than reacting to each new regulation in isolation, such a platform enables proactive compliance by offering:

  • a unified system where emissions raw data is transformed into standardized, analytics-ready, quality-assured business-usable datasets that can be consistently interpreted and reconciled into multiple reporting requirements, in machine-readable outputs
  • a shared infrastructure that allows companies to connect, exchange, and validate emissions data across operations and partners
  • embedded assurance and audit readiness, supporting higher standards like reasonable assurance without duplicating effort
  • a future-proof foundation capable of integrating emerging needs, such as AI-based forecasting, scenario planning, and Scope 3 simulations.

The real value of NED, however, is beyond compliance – it allows companies to shift from reactive reporting to proactive emissions management and improvement. Operators that can demonstrate reliable emissions data and tracking with clear reduction strategies are better positioned in tenders, Non-Operated Ventures (NOVs), and ESG rankings. This strengthens competitive advantage and opens doors to new partnerships and innovation opportunities. In an industry where emissions intensity is becoming a key differentiator, companies with trusted data will be better equipped to lead. The strategic advantage is clear – by investing now, governments and industry alike can avoid regulatory whiplash, reduce operational inefficiencies, and strengthen trust with stakeholders, while positioning themselves as digital leaders, shaping the tools and infrastructure that define emissions accountability worldwide.

Challenges and opportunities

From the interviews and workshops, the study sought to capture a composite “voice of the industry”, structured around four key themes:

  • Current approach to emissions reporting and compliance
  • Industry sentiment and outlook
  • Challenges holding the industry back
  • Opportunities to drive the industry forward

Collectively, these insights provide a rigorous and multifaceted view of stakeholder perceptions, serving as a foundation for strategic recommendations and future actions in emissions management and reporting. In summary, the voice of the industry is clear: the current approach to emissions reporting is no longer fit for purpose. From asset managers to CFOs, ESG professionals to IT architects, stakeholders consistently described today’s systems as fragmented, inconsistent, and operationally inefficient.

Yet this critique did not come with resignation, but with a strong sense of optimism. Across interviews, there was a shared appetite for collaboration, standardization, and the use of technology to elevate emissions data to the same level of integrity and utility as financial data. Industry leaders envision a future where emissions data flows seamlessly across systems and stakeholders, where reporting once is sufficient for multiple requirements, and where high-quality, auditable data becomes a strategic asset, supporting risk management, operational improvement, and investor trust.

To achieve this vision, key blockers must be addressed: agreeing on shared standards, improving data quality and granularity, modernizing legacy systems, clarifying responsibilities in NOVs, and fostering a culture that prioritizes transparency over organizational silos. Timing is now a strategic factor. With mounting global pressure for climate transparency, delaying action risks further fragmentation, reputational exposure, and missed commercial opportunities.

Multiple stakeholders suggested that Norway is uniquely positioned to lead – not only in compliance, but in shaping the future of digital climate governance. A fully operational NED, built on international standards, could serve as a blueprint for other countries, and potentially influence global frameworks. 

The message from industry is consistent – move forward, together. Companies are willing to contribute expertise, engage in co-development, and share responsibility where needed to improve outcomes. A successful pilot, where multiple operators feed data into a shared platform could validate the concept, accelerate adoption, and establish Norway as a frontrunner in digital emissions infrastructure.

“Standardizing data and processes would simplify audit procedures, reducing the cost and effort involved in auditing emissions data. This would be beneficial for both companies and regulators.”

– Lead Data Architect, Operator

NED is more than a system. It is a moment to define a new era of cooperation and innovation on the NCS – one that could ripple far beyond national waters.

Building the case for action – value-based emissions management

To realize NED’s potential, we describe a clear and deliberate maturity progression – a three-stage pathway illustrating how organizations can unlock increasing value from emissions data (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: A three-pillar pathway to value-based emissions management

NED is designed to deliver the first and most foundational pillar: standardizing and democratizing data. By enabling consistent, trusted, and transparent emissions data to flow across operators, partners, and regulators, NED lays the groundwork for all further value creation.

Importantly, this is not a one-off step, but the beginning of a maturity curve. As data quality, trust, and interoperability increase, organizations naturally move towards optimization and, over time, monetization. The progression is cumulative – each stage builds on the one before, with the full potential unlocked only when foundational data infrastructure is in place.

The case for action is no longer theoretical – it is both urgent and compelling. By democratizing emissions data through a structured, trusted, and accessible platform, NED offers a path to immediate efficiency gains and long-term strategic value. Interviewees reported spending significant time on manual reporting processes, struggling with inconsistent data formats, and facing costly, drawn-out audit cycles. Several participants described the desire for a system like NED to address these challenges.

The first pillar – standardization and democratization of emissions data – is not just a prerequisite for better reporting. It is the enabler of everything that comes next, enabling companies to operate smarter, reduce risk, and drive performance in a carbon-constrained world.

Based on pillars 1 and 2 (standardizing and democratizing, and optimizing value) the four business cases outlined demonstrate the tangible value of investing in foundational data infrastructure, i.e. NED:

  • Business Case 1: Reduced time and cost of data management
  • streamlining data collection, validation, and reporting processes could reduce manual effort and administrative costs by up to 40%
  • Business Case 2: Streamlined data validation and assurance
  • with greater traceability and audit readiness, companies can reduce internal and external assurance burdens by as much as 50%
  • Business Case 3: Enable cross-asset improvements
  • unified, comparable data unlocks benchmarking and performance optimization, potentially cutting emissions from individual assets by up to 5%
  • Business Case 4: Cost avoidance from elimination of data buffering practices
  • greater trust in data reduces over-reporting and conservatism, avoiding 2–3% of inflated emissions and the associated cost exposure.

Beyond these financial outcomes, NED creates non-financial value that is no less critical. It strengthens confidence among regulators, investors, and the public. It enables more credible sustainability claims, reduces reputational and regulatory risk, and positions Norway at the forefront of responsible energy governance. This kind of transparency and leadership will be essential as international pressure for climate accountability continues to rise. In short, NED delivers both return on investment and return on integrity.

It builds the operational backbone needed to turn emissions data into insight, and insight into action. For organizations operating on the NCS and beyond, the message is clear: investing in trusted data infrastructure is no longer a future ambition – it is a present-day imperative.

The proposed national database intends to drive greater value through reduced emissions. The business cases identified collectively demonstrate how emissions data democratization – creating structured, accessible, and trustworthy emissions information delivers immediate and quantifiable value while establishing the digital foundation for broader sustainability transformation.

Organizations that prioritize this foundational capability will be better positioned to navigate the complex intersection of sustainability imperatives and digital transformation opportunities. While harder to measure than operational savings, these strategic advantages form a vital part of the long-term value proposition for adopting NED.

Database requirements and options

Based on interviews and extensive market research, findings suggest that building NED from a technical perspective is highly feasible. Market research of incumbent solutions, commercial and in-house, meet partial capabilities. However, none provide comprehensive support across the eight architectural principles that will guide the development of a robust and future ready solution. These principles are:

  1. Data veracity
  2. Interoperability
  3. Data management
  4. Regulatory and sustainability frameworks
  5. Scalability and performance
  6. Core data focus
  7. Deployment flexibility
  8. Technology readiness

Limited maturity was observed in areas critical to long-term success: interoperability (Principle 2), alignment with regulatory and sustainability frameworks (Principle 4), and deployment flexibility (Principle 7). These gaps are significant, as they directly impact the ability of a national solution to serve multiple stakeholders, meet evolving compliance demands, and avoid vendor lock-in. The proposed open standard based solution is intentionally designed to cover all architectural principles. It is informed by deep engagement with industry stakeholders and aligns closely with the needs, expectations, and practical realities expressed throughout the discovery phase. From modular integration with existing systems to future-proof regulatory alignment, the solution reflects both technical feasibility and strategic foresight.

“The most important thing is to enable the industry to do the measurements and accounting consistently in the same way. To do so, the industry needs to agree on a clear definition of terms.”

-IT Architect, NOV

Establishing an NED will require commitment, collaboration, and targeted investment. As with any transformative effort, there are execution risks to navigate. The anticipated value far outweighs these. The industry has expressed a clear desire for a shared, standards-based emissions platform that enhances trust, streamlines compliance, and unlocks new opportunities for data-driven improvement. By building an NED with purpose and precision, Norway has the opportunity to lead, not only in environmental compliance, but in setting a new global benchmark for emissions data infrastructure.

Governance and data custodianship models

Governance and data custodianship will be critical components in the management and operation of the NED. Governance is the framework of rules, practices, and processes by which an organization is directed and controlled, while data custodianship involves the responsibilities and practices associated with managing and safeguarding data. Effective governance ensures that strategic objectives are met, while robust data custodianship guarantees the integrity, security, and accessibility of data. 

For NED to operate as a trusted, shared asset, its governance model must promote transparency, accountability, and sustained value creation. Equally, the data custodianship role must be clearly defined to ensure consistent data standards, version control, and alignment with regulatory requirements.

The feasibility study explores four potential governance and custodianship models that could support the implementation and long-term operation of the NED. These are Diskos, the Norwegian national repository for offshore oil and gas data managed by the Norwegian Offshore Directorate, an Open Group, an Industry Consortium and finally a Service Purchase arrangement.

The proposed solution must meet the diverse needs of all key stakeholders – operators, partners, and regulatory bodies alike. The study supports the development of a national solution as the most effective path to delivering long-term value. Given the varying levels of digital maturity across organizations, a phased approach is recommended, allowing individual companies to begin with in-house deployments that can gradually transition into a shared national platform, all based on the same foundation.

Each governance model assessed brings unique strengths and limitations. However, themes such as co-innovation, open standards, and cross-industry collaboration consistently emerge as critical enablers for success. Within this context, the Service Purchase model appears to be the least aligned with the collaborative vision required to realize a truly national emissions database. While the study does not prescribe a definitive governance model, it sets the foundation for an informed, inclusive decision-making process. Ultimately, the final model must be shaped through continued dialogue and alignment between industry stakeholders and government authorities, ensuring shared ownership, clear accountability, and long-term sustainability.

Strategic partnerships and co-innovation

Traditionally, oil and gas companies have operated under the doctrine of competitive advantage, guarding proprietary technologies, operational strategies, and market insights as means to outperform peers. However, as the industry confronts unprecedented environmental, regulatory, and societal pressures, this paradigm is increasingly inadequate. The complexity and scale of decarbonization challenges demand a shift towards collaborative advantage – a model in which value is created not through isolation, but through shared innovation and collective action.

Collaboration is not a supporting function of the proposed NED – it is a strategic imperative. Delivering a scalable, credible, and future-ready emissions platform will depend not just on technical capability but on a collective willingness to align incentives, share knowledge, and innovate across institutional boundaries.

While Norway enters this opportunity from a position of strength, with a culture of industry collaboration, regulatory maturity, and precedents like Diskos, co-innovation at this scale presents real challenges. Misaligned incentives, fragmented digital ecosystems, concerns over data confidentiality, and regulatory ambiguity remain significant barriers. Engaging academia effectively, navigating IP ownership, and ensuring legacy systems can participate are equally vital.

To overcome these, four co-innovation principles have emerged as critical: clear governance, interoperable infrastructure, proactive regulatory alignment, and aligned incentives. Together, these create the conditions for true shared value. The benefits of a collaborative emissions ecosystem are equally clear. It creates transparency between stakeholders, reduces duplication and inefficiency, ensures regulatory readiness, and opens the door to faster, bolder innovation. But these benefits are not automatic, they must be designed into the system from the outset.

“It is a community, here we learn about opportunities and do co-innovation. Everyone wins for a cheap price.”

-ESG Leader, Regulatory Authority

The path forward requires a new kind of partnership, one where the oil and gas sector, regulators, technology providers, and research communities co-own the mission. Ultimately, the real value lies in collaboration. By building the database with – not just for – stakeholders, Norway can demonstrate climate leadership and deliver a tool that drives genuine progress, at home and beyond.

Conclusion

The feasibility study highlights a dual opportunity – to stabilize or even increase production while simultaneously reducing emissions. By transforming emissions data into actionable insights, operators across the Norwegian Continental Shelf can identify inefficiencies, optimize operations, and implement targeted improvements. This data-driven approach supports both sustainability and competitiveness, aligning environmental goals with production performance.

Norway is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. With over 30 years of experience in collaborative data infrastructure through the Diskos National Data Repository platform, Norway has a proven model for industry-wide cooperation. The NED builds on this legacy, offering a scalable, interoperable, and future-proof solution that aligns with both national goals and international frameworks.

The study identifies clear business value across five key areas:

  • Reduced time and cost of emissions data management and assurance
  • Improved benchmarking, lessons learned, and operational insight through granular, high-quality and high-frequency data
  • Avoidance of overreporting costs, taxes and quotas, via trusted, auditable data
  • Enhanced stakeholder trust and regulatory readiness through transparent, standardized reporting
  • Monetization of emissions data by reduced emissions, carbon offsetting, and premium pricing

Technologically, the study confirms that the architecture and platform capabilities required to support NED are available today. Open standards such as The Open Footprint and Open Subsurface Data Universe provide a robust foundation, while modular, Application Programming Interface-based designs ensure compatibility with government systems, legacy infrastructure, and modern digital platforms.

In conclusion, the case is compelling. Both industry and public stakeholders across functions are aligned in their view that emissions data must evolve from a burdensome obligation to a strategic asset. The voice of the industry is unified, ready to engage, test, and co-develop a new system, provided it is credible, interoperable, and developed with user needs in mind to solve existing pain points and unlock future value. And NED addresses common challenges with a common solution, leverages proven technology, and aligns with a shared vision for emissions transparency and climate leadership. Furthermore, such a project can be the catalyst for the industry to create the required standards and guidelines. The action case is clear with four specific, quantifiable business cases: cost and time savings in data management, streamlined assurance, asset-level performance benchmarking, and cost avoidance from emissions overestimation. These are underpinned by broader, non-financial value drivers. However, the true value lies beyond improved reporting – it is in democratizing the data, optimizing value based on the data, and then monetizing the insights. There is a dual opportunity to stabilize or even increase production while simultaneously reducing emissions. With trusted, granular, and actionable data, emissions performance becomes a lever for efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness.

Next Steps

The Capgemini Emissions Experience Center in Stavanger is now developing an MVP for an Emissions Foundation, the Centre’s transformation engine and innovation platform to be shared by stakeholders throughout the value chain, described in Section 6 of White Paper 1. (Note: add link to section 6, White Paper 1).

The proposed model, as depicted in Figure 2 below, does not suggest a ‘rip and replace’ approach to the Business Applications used widely for data management and reporting – it is purely the foundational layer using the standard Open Standards data model. Likewise, data sources can use the same standard for integration. We believe that this Emissions Foundation will pave the path for either a National Emissions Database (NED) or Corporate Emissions Database (CED).

At the heart of our plans for the EEC will be the Emission Foundation, a transformation engine and innovation platform shared by stakeholders throughout the value chain. The Emission Foundation will be the embodiment of the EEC’s commitment to fostering co-innovation for a sustainable future. Serving as both a starting point and an accelerator, the Foundation will drive collaborative efforts to address the critical challenges of emissions reduction and environmental sustainability, by providing the resources, support and guidance necessary to turn visionary concepts into reality.

– The Emissions Foundation

The Open Subsurface Data Universe (OSDU) and the Open Footprint Forum (OFP) cover all types of emissions – these frameworks align well with the architectural principles outlined in Chapter 6, particularly in terms of interoperability and scalability.

By adopting OFP as the standardized data model, and leveraging OSDU for core data management, a robust emissions platform can be built upon proven foundations. Complementary capabilities – including data ingestion from existing industry systems, validation, transformation, and reporting – can be layered on to complete the solution.

Figure 2: Emission Foundation solution architecture advocates seamless integration and applications of choice.

The recommendation is to move forward with the development of the Emissions Foundation – one which is built collaboratively, governed transparently, and designed to scale. Proposed next steps – to continue to build an MVP, gain stakeholder and regulatory alignment, and develop deeper quantitative business case modelling – are designed to rapidly build momentum and credibility. Quick wins will validate feasibility, strengthen the strategic case, and provide a practical foundation for broader industry participation.

This is a defining moment for Norway, the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and the Oil and Gas industry. The establishment of NED is not merely a compliance upgrade – it is a leap toward digital climate governance.

The National Emissions Database Demo Day

On October 15, 2025 the Emissions Experience Center (EEC) in Stavanger, Norway hosted an exclusive gathering of key stakeholders from the global oil and gas industry, to experience firsthand how collaborative innovation can shape the future of emissions reporting and management.

The first National Emissions Database Demo Day brought industry, government, academia and technology partners together to demonstrate a platform designed co-creatively and led by the EEC to tackle six imperative industry challenges.

In the third white paper of this series we summarize the breakthrough events and outcomes of the Demo Day, and how they helped to validate the NED’s technical applicability and to further inform the next steps of our journey to a single emissions data universe.