New global guidance will provide common approaches for calculating carbon emissions of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products and services
Tuesday 8 March 2011 - ICT companies and their customers will soon have common approaches and methodologies to calculate the carbon footprints of ICT products and services thanks to industry guidance due to be published at the end of the year.
The Energy and Resources Institute – Business Council for Sustainable Development (TERI-BCSD), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and the World Resources Institute (WRI) organized a stakeholder dialogue on Corporate GHG Accounting in India on February 2nd, 2011.
The event was held on the sidelines of the World CEO Forum 2011 and was the first formal consultation of a project between TERI and WRI. The partnership aims to build capacity on corporate GHG accounting and gain an appreciation of the necessary steps required for developing a national GHG program.
To garner feedback on the issues and options related to green power accounting, the GHG Protocol team held discussion-based workshops over the past few months tailored to US and European audiences specifically.
The DC workshop on December 13th, 2010 centered around accounting practices relating to renewable energy credits (RECs), best practices for assuring clear emission attribute ownership, and how an emissions cap on the power sector impacts voluntary green power purchases.
The first drafts of the GHG Protocol Product and Scope 3 Accounting and Reporting Standards were released for stakeholder review on November 11th 2009. The draft standards were developed over a nine month period between January and October 2009 through the work of 7 technical working groups comprised of more than 160 members, with strategic guidance provided by a 25 member steering committee.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol for the U.S. Public Sector was released in October by the GHG Protocol Initiative and LMI. The protocol outlines how federal, state and local governments can account for their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a resource to help measure and manage climate impacts, the protocol serves as a reference for implementing Executive Order 13514, which President Obama signed on October 5, 2009. The Executive Order requires federal agencies to report and reduce their GHG emissions over time.
GHG Protocol has published a draft royalty-free Licensing Policy and plans to integrate this agreement into all online calculation tools and standards in the New Year. GHG Protocol website visitors will be asked to sign-in before downloading all online tools and standards and will then be asked to accept or decline the license presented before them. Users will not be asked to accept the license every time they download tools and standards; a one-time review of the license is all that is required.
The world is now beginning to recognize the fundamental role of Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) to the success of any action to address climate change and the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that cause it. As the negotiations and legislative processes stutter, there is still an urgency to develop the infrastructure necessary to support real action. Further, despite an extensive literature on climate policy and technology, the literature on how best to manage GHG emissions is surprisingly limited.
As companies seek ways to reduce the GHG emissions in their corporate inventory, they have increasingly posed questions regarding the use of external instruments such as offsets and green power products.
Upcoming Events and Trainings
June 4 - 6
Webinar Training on Product Standard
Additional information available here
