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GHG (GreenHouse Gases) accounting and reporting
o The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative (GHG Protocol) aims at harmonizing GHG accounting and reporting standards internationally to ensure that different trading schemes and other climate related initiatives adopt consistent approaches to GHG accounting. The development of these standards and corresponding tools has become increasingly relevant since the ratification of Kyoto and the development of national, and other relevant GHG emissions trading schemes both within and outside of the Kyoto framework.
o The GHG Protocol is a broad international coalition of businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), government and inter-governmental organizations. It operates under the umbrella of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World Resources Institute (WRI), and brings together leading experts on greenhouse gas emissions to develop internationally accepted accounting and reporting standards. The participants are working in partnership to design, disseminate and promote the use of globally applicable accounting and reporting standards for GHG emissions.
· IASB International Accounting Standards Board >
o Current Projects > IASB Projects >
o News >> e.g.
§ IFRIC issues guidance on accounting for GHG emissions and scope of leasing standard (2 December 2004)
§ Proposed new accounting Interpretation - Greenhouse gas emissions (15 May 2003)
· FEE (Federation des Experts Comptables Europeens; The European Federation of Accountants) >
o Our Work >
§ Sustainability = Sustainability Working Party (SWP) and Sustainability Policy Group (SPG) > e.g.
· News
· Publications > e.g.
o Position Paper (January 2005): Alert on Emissions Trading
§ »Publication highlighting the financial reporting and auditing consequences of the EU's Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme.«
o Fact Sheet (2002): Greenhouse Gasses and the Accountancy Profession
o Position Paper (1999): Review of International Accounting Standards for Environmental Issues
· EU & International links
· EU Initiatives
· CICA Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (Canada) > Research & Guidance >
o MD&A and Business Reporting > e.g.
§ MD&A Disclosure About the Financial Impact of Climate Change and Other Environmental Issues (14 October 2005; .pdf has 21 pp.)
· Canadian Performance Reporting Board - Discussion Brief; Document for Comment
o See also, e.g.:
§ CAmagazine.com >> e.g.
· News from the profession: A summary of current CICA projects and initiatives - Need for enhanced sustainability disclosures gains wider recognition (April 2007), with Chronology of CICA’s climate change and sustainability initiatives
· ISO International Organization for Standardization > e.g.
o Products >
§ ISO Standards > ISO 9000 / ISO 14000
o Standards development >
§ Technical committees > List of ISO technical committees >
· TC 207: Environmental management >
o Standards published > e.g.
§ ISO 14064-1:2006
· Greenhouse gases -- Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals
§ ISO 14064-2:2006
· Greenhouse gases -- Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements
§ ISO 14064-3:2006
· Greenhouse gases -- Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions
§ ISO 14065:2007
· Greenhouse gases -- Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition
o Work programme > e.g.
§ ISO/NP 14066 - Competency requirements for GHG validators/verifiers
o News and media >
§ News >> e.g.
· ISO sharpens focus on international standards for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources (2 October 2007)
· ISO standards for GHG emissions accounting and verification included in new ISO 14000 CD-ROM collection (19 June 2007)
· ISO 14065 standard – new tool for international efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions (17 April 2007)
· UN’s climate change chief praises new ISO 14064 standards for supporting greenhouse gas reduction and emissions trading (7 June 2006)
· New ISO 14064 standards provide tools for assessing and supporting greenhouse gas reduction and emissions trading (3 March 2006)
· ISO 14064 standard on greenhouse gases in wings of UN's Climate Change Conference (29 November 2005)
§ Magazines >
· ISO Focus > 2006 > ISO Focus - June 2006, headlined »Environmental sustainability« >
o Interview with Richard Kinley (.pdf, 3 pp.), Officer-in-Charge of the Climate Change Secretariat
§ ...These ISO standards will provide frameworks for assessing and verifying greenhouse gases at different levels...
· Ecologia >>
o Greenhouse Gas Accounting (Last updated, 2004 ??)
· Lloyd's Register >
o LRQA (Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance)
§ »is one of the world’s foremost management system certification, verification and training organisations providing an extensive range of business assurance acitivites.«
§ > e.g.
· Services we offer >
o Climate Change > also
§ BusinessAssurance.com »the management systems community« > e.g.
· Climate Change
· Supply Chain
· Food
· VCS Voluntary Carbon Standard
· Defra UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs >
o Environmental protection > Business & the Environment >
· Accountancy Age >> e.g.
o Special Reports > e.g.
§ The green accountancy report (5 July 2007)
· ACCA Association of Chartered Certified Accountants >
o Public interest > Technical activities > Technical library > Sustainability library > Reporting publications >
§ Improving climate change reporting: an ACCA / FTSE Group discussion paper (.pdf, July 2007, 52 pp.)
· See also related article: ACCA launches report on climate change reporting (By Adrie van der Luijt; At DOF - Director of Finance)
§ Climate Change: UK Corporate Reporting (.pdf, February 2007, 24 pp.) – An Analysis of Disclosure in UK Corporate Reports
· Aldersgate Group (London, UK) > e.g.
o Reports >
§ Carbon Costs: Corporate Carbon Accounting and Reporting (May 2007; .pdf has 12 pp.)
o See also, e.g.:
§ Related post at BusinessGreen Blog: Business leaders call for rules on carbon reporting (9 October 2007; By James Murray)
· The Carbon Trust (UK) > e.g.
o Resources > Tools >
o About us >
§ Press Centre > e.g.
· Step forward on reducing climate change impacts from products (23 May 2007) - Carbon Trust and Defra join with BSI British Standards to develop a standard method for measuring the embodied GHG emissions in products and services.
· Guardian (UK) > e.g.
o Environment >> e.g.
§ Counting carbon (5 November 2007; By Murray Armstrong) - What happened when the Guardian and the CDP asked 1,300 major firms to disclose their emissions?
· BusinessGreen > e.g.
o News > Management > e.g.
§ Environmental reporting approaches tipping point (5 November 2007) - Reports find standards of environmental reporting remain mixed, but expert predicts significant improvement next year as firms prepare to disclose their climate change strategies
· The Climate Group > e.g.
o Reducing Emissions >
§ Low carbon Solutions >
· SDI Sustainable Development International (Henley Media Group) >> e.g.
o Climate Action > e.g.
§ Shrink your carbon footprint >
· 12 Communicate and report results
· EurActiv > e.g.
o Policy Sections > e.g.
§ Environment >> Building trust in emissions reporting (7 March 2007)
· This report by PwC highlights the key characteristics of the world's main emission-trading schemes, presents a new vision for compliance in emissions trading and calls for action to develop a global carbon market.
§ Sustainable Development > e.g.
· WEF World Economic Forum >
o Initiatives >
§ Climate Change (also Global Greenhouse Gas Register)
o Media Centre >>
§ New consortium created to develop standard framework for company reporting of climate risks (Davos, Switzerland, 26 January 2007)
· Founding members of the institutional consortium, the CDSB - Climate Disclosure Standards Board (related news at Ceres), include the California Climate Action Registry, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Ceres, The Climate Group, International Emissions Trading Association, World Economic Forum Global Greenhouse Gas Register and World Resources Institute.
· See also, e.g.:
o ACCA >>
§ ACCA Joins Advisory Board of Climate Disclosure Standards Board (March 2008)
· WBCSD World Business Council for Sustainable Development > e.g.
o Focus Areas >
§ Energy & Climate > e.g.
· WBCSD news > e.g.
o ISO, WRI and WBCSD Announce Cooperation on Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Verification (3 December 2007)
§ ...they have agreed to jointly promote the ISO 14064 standards and the WRI and WBCSD GHG Protocol standards.
§ ISO, WRI, and WBCSD have already collaborated on the multiple globally accepted standards for GHG accounting and reporting. The ISO 14064 standard, established in 2006, is consistent and compatible with the GHG Protocol, published by WRI and WBCSD in 2004. The organizations are encouraging corporations, governments, and others to use them as complementary tools. ISO 14064 details internationally agreed requirements on what needs to be done in GHG accounting and verification efforts, while the GHG Protocol outlines not only what needs to be done, but also how to undertake GHG accounting and reporting."
· DSR Dutch Sustainability Research > e.g.
o Nieuws >
§ Urgent need to promote more standardised corporate reporting on climate change (7 December 2007) - A Report by DSR and Respect stresses the Importance of Focussed Reporting and Public Access to Data >
· Report: Climate Change and Benchmarking (.pdf, November 2007, 8 pp.; By Hans-Ulrich Beck)
o The research indicates that corporations are taking part in numerous interesting and innovative climate change related initiatives. However, overall climate change disclosure remains patchy and inconsistent and it therefore remains difficult to determine real leadership.
o DSR reviewed the performance of 20 corporations on a selected number of climate change best-practice indicators drawn from international guidelines.
· VCS Voluntary Carbon Standard provides a robust, new global standard for voluntary offset projects. It ensures that carbon offsets that businesses and consumers buy can be trusted and have real environmental benefits. The VCS is a global benchmark standard for project-based voluntary greenhouse gas emission reductions and removals. It offers confidence to buyers, sellers and other stakeholders in the growing voluntary carbon market.
o See also related articles at:
§ WBCSD:
· Leading Business Groups in Davos Call for Transparency and Quality in the Voluntary Carbon Market (28 January 2008)
· New Carbon Standard Guarantees Environmental Integrity and Transparency for Global Offset Market (London, 19 November 2007)
· Completion of the Voluntary Carbon Standard Framework (Geneva, 31 July 2007)
o The founders of the VCS are IETA, TCG, the WEF and the WBCSD.
o The Steering Committee has retained Dr. Anne-Marie Warris of LRQA to incorporate its decisions into an ISO compatible document which will be reviewed and approved by the SC.
§ Environmental Leader:
· Report Compares Carbon Offset Standards (12 March 2008; Relating to a report written by the Stockholm Environment Institute and commissioned by WWF Germany, »Making Sense of the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Comparison of Carbon Offset Standards«)
· Group Launches Voluntary Carbon Standard (19 November 2007)
· Ecosystem Marketplace »The world's first online information platform for the growing international trade in ecosystem services« (Biodiversity markets, Carbon markets, Water markets)
· BSR Business for Social Responsibility (Based in San Francisco) > e.g.
o Insight > e.g.
§ Reports > e.g.
· Climate > e.g.
o Beyond Neutrality: Moving Your Company Toward Climate Leadership (October 2007)
o Offsetting Emissions: A Business Brief on the Voluntary Carbon Market (December 2006)
o A Three-Pronged Approach to Corporate Climate Strategy (October 2006)
· Water
· Land Use / Biodiversity > e.g.
o The New Markets for Environmental Services: A Corporate Manager’s Guide to Trading in Air, Climate, Water and Biodiversity Assets (December 2007; .pdf has 62 pp.)
· GRI Global Reporting Initiative >
o Current Priorities >
§ Climate change > e.g.
· Reporting the Business Implications of Climate Change in Sustainability Reports (.pdf, July 2007)
o See also:
§ related article at SocialFunds: Many Sustainability Reports Upbeat, Ignoring Climate Change Risks (2 August 2007)
§ related news at GRI: Climate change reporting sheds light on emerging business opportunities (19 July 2007)
o Who are you? >
§ Investor >
§ The Corporate Climate Communications Report 2007 (February 2008; .pdf has 56 pp.)
· In the first study of its kind we assess global leading companies' climate change communications, as differentiated from their carbon performance.
· We look at all the latest CSR reports from the Global FT500, evaluated against 29 climate disclosure elements, ranging from CEO statements to alignment with international standards.
· During 2007, two-thirds of the Global FT500 issued a stand-alone non-financial report. Evaluating these reports the study reveals that 87 per cent address climate change, with 78 per cent publishing greenhouse gas emissions data.
· Further detailed analysis of all 29 climate disclosure elements by region, industry sector and market capitalisation is detailed in the document.
· See also:
o related article at Sustainable Life Media: Corporate Climate Reporters Rallying Around GHG Protocol (25 March 2008)
· Ethical Corporation > e.g.
o EC Institute >>
§ Reports >
· Corporate Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting 2008 (March 2008) - How the Global FT500 are using GHG Metrics and verification standards
o See also related press release
o ClimateChangeCorp.com > e.g.
§ Markets
§ Reporting > e.g.
· Measuring emissions: the search for standards (31 October 2007; By Toby Procter; Also here) - New global standards for measuring carbon emissions are yet to be widely accepted. Is that because too many issues remain unresolved?