Monday, November 10, 2008
Carbon Footprint Tracking and Sustainability Planning Go Hand in Hand
More than 80 percent of the “Global 250” corporations are tracking greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 2008 study by KPMG. Many smaller corporations are also are beginning to account for and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Many expect that they will be subject to “cap and trade” regulatory requirements within a half-decade.
Why are they doing this? It may be due to a sense of corporate responsibility. It may be due to increased interest from their stakeholders, customers and/or investors. It may be part of long-term risk analysis and strategic planning. And certainly the new political climate in the U.S. makes it ever more likely that GHG emission reporting and reduction will be required within a few years.
Carbon Footprint Calculations
There are three “scopes” of GHG emissions that are generally reported. The first two are generally required by most reporting programs, while the third is optional.
Scope 1 - Emissions from company-owned or controlled equipment (e.g. power generation, boilers, furnaces, vehicles. Emissions from Physical or chemical processing.
Scope 2 - Emissions from the generation of purchased electricity (emissions from both transmission and distribution), gas and fuel in company operations.
Scope 3 - Indirect emissions, excluding those already included in Scope 2 (e.g. employee commuting/travel, leased assets, waste disposal, etc.). The variability of considerations in this scope is the reason that it is optional. Nevertheless, a good rationale for reporting on such activities is that this scope might provide the low-hanging fruit from which to start emission reductions (some possible scenarios include a reducing consulting firm’s employee travel-related emission and possibly those resulting from a mall owner’s waste disposal activities).
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Posted by Jerry on 11/10/2008 at 08:44 PM
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