openCEDA CADv2026 - methods and details
Summary
| Publisher | Watershed Technology, Inc. |
| Full name | Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive (CEDA), Open CEDA edition |
| Description |
This database is published by Watershed as Open CEDA by Watershed. Watershed’s Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive (CEDA) was built for: - Globally representation, capturing true emissions variation across 149 countries and regions - Highest level of industry granularity available on a spend-based database This is not a year-over-year time series. Changes in the year selection adjust CEDA 2025 emission factors by the sector level price index.
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| Version nr. | OpenCEDA CADv2026 |
Source Documents
CEDA 2025
- CEDA 2025 release note (Oct 2025)
- CEDA 2025 change log (Oct 2025)
- Open CEDA download (openceda.org)
- Open CEDA on the AWS Registry of Open Data
Publication and Version Reference
CEDA is released annually between October and December, and each edition is labelled by its release year. Watershed pairs each edition with partial inflation corrections for the (incomplete) year of reference (CEDA 2025 contains inflation corrections and currency conversions for the years 2024 and 2025).
The emission factor base year sits two years behind the label because CEDA depends on the US EPA GHG inventory, which has a two-year data lag. (CEDA 2025 is based on 2023 base data)
In C+A+D, we apply a one-year forward shift to the application period. The CEDA 2025 edition is applied to the 2026 reporting year.
This approach eliminates the need for retrospective corrections (year Y-1), aligns with databases that have less explicit methodological delays, and reduces inventory impact during annual updates.
| Version name | Data published in | Data label | Data based on | Used in C+A+D for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CEDA 2025 | October 2025 | 2025 |
2023 (EF base year) 2025 (inflation and currency conversions) |
2026 CCFs |
| CEDA 2025 | October 2025 | 2024 |
2023 (EF base year) 2024 (inflation and currency conversions) |
2025 CCFs |
| CEDA 2025 | October 2025 | 2023 | 2023 (EF base year) | 2024 CCFs and earlier |
Methodology Readout Notes
General Methodology
CEDA is a spend-based EEIO model. Factors are life-cycle (supply-chain) GHG intensities expressed as mass of CO₂e per unit of spend, by sector code and country.
- EF base data: The direct-from source values are dataed from 2023, in producer price, US Dollar.
- GWP weighting: CEDA 2025 uses AR6 for all datapoints
- Non-base-year expression: factors for any year other than 2023 are derived by applying the sector-level price index to the 2023 base. The price index is sourced from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). This is the CEDA "year" selection. It is not a year-over-year time series; selecting a different year re-expresses the same 2023 emission data in that year's price terms.
- Currency: converted from US Dollar using exchange rates (local currency unit per USD) for the selected year. All currency conversions follow the conversion data layed out in the openCEDA publication.
- Price type: factors can be expressed per producer price or per purchaser price. The source provides producer price. Purchaser-price factors are derived from producer price via a producer-to-purchaser conversion. Because purchaser price includes distribution and margin, CO₂e per purchaser unit is lower than CO₂e per producer unit.
- Coverage: 400 sectors across 149 countries and regions. Two price types per option. 4 units available at the moment (USD, EUR, GBP, DKK). Nearly 500 000 factors in total.
- Special filter fields: EF library contains two dedicated fields for filtering: Price Type filter and Sector Code filter.
Data Considerations and Notes
Version-to-year pairing
CAD applies CEDA 2025 to the 2026 reporting year, one year ahead of Watershed's recommended pairing. This pragmatic approach avoids retrospective corrections in most workflows.