The global market for Carbon Footprint Management is projected to reach US$12.2 billion by the year 2027, trailing a post COVID-19 CAGR of 5.7% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. The market for carbon footprint management constitutes services and solutions which aid in managing carbon footprint. Carbon footprint services include managed services and professional services that aid in the management of carbon footprint of an organization. During the past few years, the market has registered considerable growth, due to global warming, rising concerns regarding changes in climate, and focus on having an international agreement related to carbon emission. Growing awareness among organizations related to calculating carbon footprint and reporting it, focus on lowering carbon emissions through efficiencies in operations, need to minimize operational costs, and compulsory carbon footprint regulations and management policies are also fueling market growth. Further, increasing corporate social responsibility programs and rising focus on enterprise sustainability among organizations is driving gains in the market. At present, many organizations are implementing a strict approach for calculating and managing their carbon emissions and are making considerable investments for the purpose. Also, advancement of telecom and IT infrastructure is expected to bode well for the market. Further, the transition to very low emission transportation solutions is likely to drive gains. Growing focus among energy-extensive sectors on carbon footprint management is also anticipated to drive market growth. Further, the rising support for carbon trading is expected to stimulate the market in long term. But the global market is expected to be restricted by the significant costs related to the use of low carbon emitting and eco-friendly infrastructure as a substitute for the present infrastructure.

Also, the ambiguity related to strategic benchmarking and regulatory structure is likely to restrain growth. The significant initial investment is anticipated to pose as an entry barrier for new companies seeking to enter the market. Nevertheless, there exist growth opportunities for the market, given that adoption in various industries is expected to surge in the forthcoming years. Recent wildfires, hurricanes, and other natural disasters across the globe are all demonstrating that the damage and devastation caused by climate change has mounted. Several regulators are now recognizing global warming as a systematic economic risk, while investors are increasingly focusing on assessing the threats of climate change to their portfolios. Climate change presents significant risks to asset owners, as well as offers tremendous opportunities to those invested in companies that are likely to benefit from the world transitioning to a lower carbon economy. While a large number of asset owners are seeking to prioritize climate change risks in their portfolios, many of them are facing challenges in doing so. Apart from the difficulty of quantifying the extent to which companies' employees, properties, and supply chains are exposed to physical climate risks, they also need to grapple with ways to quantify transitional costs, such as changing consumer behavior and policy changes, which could additionally impact market valuations. An individual company's greenhouse gas emissions can be calculated by its direct emissions associated with electricity use and emissions from its trucks, steel furnaces, cement kilns, or natural-gas or coal power plants.

However, there could also be emissions from non-direct sources related to peripheral activities, including product use, customer logistics, or supply chains, which are more difficult to assess owing to double-counting and lack of data, and hence are often overlooked while calculating a business's carbon footprint. One of the simplest strategies for addressing climate change risks in portfolios could be investing in high-quality companies with a structurally lower carbon footprint. It has been found that high-quality companies with a high return on operating capital employed not only offer better returns to their investors but also usually have a smaller carbon footprint. These businesses could include IT and software service providers, or media content and consulting firms, whose carbon footprints are typically restricted to staff travel, offices, and data centers. In recent years, many of the large software companies have made giant strides towards sustainability and are increasingly building more energy-efficient offices and sourcing renewable energy for powering their data centers. In addition, investing in companies involved in directly contributing towards Decarbonization, such as producers of renewable energy, could enable investors in reducing carbon exposure within their portfolios. However, such pure-play companies are generally scarce, and hence the next best approach would be to invest in businesses that are exposed to business areas contributing towards energy transition, such as companies offering renewable energy and smart grid equipment.