Publication Name

KICK THE HABIT

THE CYCLE – COUNT AND ANALYSE

The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard provides or informs the account-

ing framework for nearly every organization-level GHG standard and pro-

gramme in the world, including ISO 14064-1, the EU Emissions Trading

Scheme, the California Climate Action Registry, the Climate Registry, the

China Energy and GHG Management Programme, and national GHG ac-

counting and reporting programmes in Brazil, Mexico, and the Philippines.

It is also the basis for the corporate inventories prepared by over 1000 indi-

vidual companies, including the Ford Motor Company, Sony, General Elec-

tric, Norsk Hydro, DuPont, Shell, BP, IKEA and Nike, and more recently

the different organizations of the UN system.

More guidance…

Some calculator providers also try to tackle the question of just which emis-

sions you need to calculate. One, the

Carbon Trust

, has come up with a

scheme designed to help companies to measure the total amount of carbon

emissions produced by their goods and services. This cradle-to-grave analy-

sis, also known as a lifecycle assessment, offers businesses a profile of the

pollution caused by their products, from obtaining raw materials through

to delivery, consumption and final disposal. Among the services available

from the Carbon Trust is a basic carbon footprint indicator which provides

an estimated footprint based on a company’s energy bill and sector. There

is also a carbon footprint calculator which will work out a more sophisti-

cated footprint based on fuel and vehicle usage, electricity bill and employee

travel. Life Cycle Analysis is a very recent field of GHG accounting with no

internationally accepted standards as yet. Beside Carbon Trust ISO, CDP,

and GHGP are all working on this.

For larger enterprises there may need to be some differences in approach to

the challenge of calculating GHG emissions. Big corporations have a more

complex organizational structure than SMEs and different company groups

(e.g. group companies/subsidiaries, associated/affiliated companies, non-

incorporated joint ventures/partnerships/operations where partners have

joint financial control, franchises, etc.). They may decide on one of two ap-

proaches to account for their emissions:

the equity share approach – a company accounts for GHG emissions

from operations according to its share of equity in the operation. The

equity share reflects economic interest, which is the extent of rights a

company has to the risks and rewards flowing from an operation;