The short version
A commodity Environmental Attribute Certificate, or commodity EAC, is a tracked instrument that represents the environmental attributes associated with eligible low-carbon commodity production.
In simple terms, a producer creates a lower-carbon commodity or service, the environmental attribute is verified and documented, and a certificate is issued so that the attribute can be transferred, retired, and reviewed.
Commodity EACs are especially relevant for hard-to-abate sectors like fertilizer, cement, steel, copper, plastics, and freight, where emissions are often embedded deep inside Scope 3 supply chains.
Why commodity EACs exist
Many companies want to act on Scope 3 emissions, but the emissions they need to influence often occur several tiers upstream. A food company may not buy fertilizer directly. A technology company may not buy cement directly. A retailer may not control the freight lanes used several steps back in its supply chain.
Commodity EACs create a market mechanism for connecting corporate demand with verified low-carbon production in these upstream industrial systems.
Commodity EACs at a glance
| Concept | What it means |
|---|---|
| Environmental attribute | The emissions-related benefit or characteristic associated with eligible lower-carbon production. |
| Certificate issuance | The creation of a serialized certificate linked to a documented production record. |
| Transfer | The movement of the certificate from one approved party to another. |
| Retirement | The permanent removal of a certificate from circulation for a defined buyer and purpose. |
| Documentation | The production, issuance, transfer, and retirement records needed for review. |
How commodity EACs differ from traditional offsets
Commodity EACs are not traditional carbon offsets. Offsets often finance emissions reductions or removals outside a buyer value chain. Commodity EACs are tied to environmental attributes from specific low-carbon commodity production or services.
The purpose is not to create a generic climate claim. The purpose is to help buyers support decarbonization in the industrial commodity systems connected to their Scope 3 inventory.
How S3 Markets fits
S3 Markets provides the infrastructure for commodity EACs across issuance, transfer, retirement, and documentation. The goal is to make environmental attributes from low-carbon industrial production traceable, transferable, and reviewable.
For buyers, S3 creates a pathway to support verified low-carbon commodity production. For producers, S3 creates a pathway to issue and monetize environmental attributes without building their own registry infrastructure.