Carbon Footprint Tracking
Corporate Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Accounting, Reduction and Reporting
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.
GHGs covered by the Kyoto Protocol include the three major human sources: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and the three minor human sources: hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs, a CFC substitute for refrigerants), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6).
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).
Carbon Footprint Advisory Services
Using widely accepted protocol methodologies and reporting standards that are right for your organization, Yudelson Associates can assist every step of the way. After working with you to develop a meaningful inventory boundary (after all, we can’t count everything), we will help in identifying both the direct emissions (Scope 1) and indirect emissions (Scope 2) of your organization.
Working with the existing resources in your organization, we will show you how to obtain the necessary data and, utilizing a suite of calculation tools, how to report the GHG inventory in a user-friendly and client-specific format that can be as aggregated or disaggregated as you desire. This can then lead to the creation of “dashboards” to track GHG emission reductions through various mitigation programs.
Carbon Reporting Program
Yudelson Associates can help you pick the most appropriate reporting format, whether it’s the EPA Climate Leaders Program or more complex international reporting protocols. For example, consider what Kohl’s department store chain (not a client) has done. In 2008, Kohl’s measured its carbon footprint by looking at energy use and transportation miles. Kohl’s reported 859 tons of carbon equivalents from direct and indirect sources using the EPA’s guidelines for measurement. In addition, 395 tons of carbon equivalents were emitted as a result of Kohl’s inbound and advertising transportation activities. This measurement was reported to both the EPA Climate Leaders as well as the Carbon Disclosure Project.
Sustainability Planning and Carbon Reduction
In the next step of this program, Yudelson Associates will help your organization craft a sustainability plan and GHG emission reduction plan that will lead to operations changes and cost-effective opportunities to reduce GHG emissions. We’ll help you put the carbon footprint reduction in the context of the larger sustainability program of your organization.
