NatWest, NAB and SC Ventures Back FourTwoThree SME Climate Action Platform

A new climate action platform named FourTwoThree has launched with backing from NatWest Group, National Australia Bank and SC Ventures, Standard Chartered's innovation unit, aimed at enabling large enterprises and their SME supply chains to measure, understand and reduce carbon emissions. The platform automates carbon footprint calculations for SMEs and integrates with existing bank infrastructure to support Scope 3 emissions management and regulatory compliance.

The initiative is designed to address the challenge that Scope 3 emissions — which can constitute over 70% of a large company's total carbon footprint — often originate from SME suppliers that lack the resources and expertise to measure or manage their own emissions. FourTwoThree integrates with existing bank systems, meets enterprise-level requirements for risk, security and performance, and provides tailored guidance to support SME decarbonisation. The platform is built on technology from Valtech and hosted on Amazon Web Services, and is acquiring SC Ventures portfolio company PointSource Technologies, which makes climate data actionable for financing, compliance and subsidy access.

The backing of three major international banks underscores the growing recognition that SME supply chain decarbonisation is both a financial risk management issue and a regulatory compliance imperative. Large companies face escalating pressure to reduce Scope 3 emissions under frameworks including IFRS S2, the CSRD and emerging national disclosure requirements, and banks are increasingly being asked by their own regulators to assess and disclose the climate risk embedded in their SME loan portfolios. Platforms that embed carbon management capabilities within banking relationships offer a scalable distribution model that can reach SMEs without requiring them to independently procure sustainability software.

SMEs represent the backbone of commerce, employment and GDP globally, including in India, where millions of small and medium enterprises are embedded in supply chains linked to multinational exporters and large domestic conglomerates. As Indian large companies expand their BRSR disclosures and face growing investor expectations on Scope 3 reporting, tools that enable structured data collection from SME suppliers will become essential infrastructure. FourTwoThree CEO Glyn Baker stated that connecting SMEs to financing and climate innovation will 'make them better and more engaged customers, suppliers and employers.'

Key figure — Over 70% of large company emissions can originate from SME supply chains