A new collaboration launches to develop standards for measuring and managing GHG emissions throughout the product life cycle and across the entire corporate value chain. The group is the GHG Protocol’s Product and Supply Chain Initiative, convened under the GHG Protocol. The project’s Steering Committee and technical working groups launched in September, in a series of meetings in Washington, DC and London, involving over 100 participants.

Today the GHG Protocol launches two new global greenhouse gas accounting standards - for corporate value chains (scope 3) and product life cycle emissions. Janet Ranganathan, WRI’s Vice-president for Science & Research, and Pankaj Bhatia, WRI’s Greenhouse Gas Protocol Director since 2004, describe the 12-year program’s critical role in business and government efforts to address climate impacts.

The China Business Council for Sustainable Development, in conjunction with WBCSD and WRI, hosted an informational workshop, “Corporate Energy Conservation and GHG Management,” on June 1 in Beijing at the Kempinski Hotel. Approximately 100 representatives from CBCSD’s member companies, government agencies, and NGOs attended the workshop.

WRI and ABPS (India) are holding a workshop in India on tracking greenhouse gas performance of mitigation actions and mitigation goals. The workshop will take place on March 7, 2012, in Delhi. The workshop will convene experts and stakeholders from governments, civil society, and the private sector to discuss issues, practices, and solutions related to the technical challenges of quantifying GHG reductions from mitigation actions and tracking national and sub-national performance toward GHG reduction goals.

UNEP FI and GHG Protocol invite interested stakeholders to participate in a technical working group for the development of a financial sector GHG accounting guidance and carbon asset risk guidance. Please see the Terms of Reference for details about the Technical Working Group process and a link to Survey Monkey where you can express your interest in participation.

Close on the heels of a new GHG program in Brazil, the Indian industry launched a national-level GHG Inventorization Program in Delhi, India, on May 28, 2008. Under the program, corporations will measure and manage their GHG emissions based on internationally recognized standards and monitor their progress towards voluntary reduction goals. The India GHG Inventory Program is a partnership between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the US EPA, and the World Resources Institute.

Agriculture and agriculture-linked land use change contribute almost 80% to Brazil’s national emissions. On September 25 in Sao Paulo, GHG Protocol held an inaugural workshop to engage key stakeholders in developing a set of new tools specific to Brazilian agriculture – a corporate GHG accounting standard and emission factors. The event featured a keynote address by Eduardo Assad, a director at Embrapa and formerly the Brazilian secretary for climate change.

The month of October saw the CD-release of the final version of the India program guide by the Indian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, Mr Shyam Saran. In his remarks, Mr Saran emphasized the importance of businesses taking the initiative to deal with climate change and encouraged public-private partnerships. The guide provides guidance and examples to assist companies in accounting for, quantification and tracking of their greenhouse gas emissions using internationally accepted Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard.

Following the launch of the Product Life Cycle and Corporate Value Chain Accounting and Reporting Standards in New York City, London, Beijing, and Tokyo, the GHG Protocol will be launching the standards in India on March 15, 2012. The event will be hosted by the World Resources Institute (WRI), World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). The launch event will take place in the morning and be followed by training workshops on the new standards in the afternoon.

Please join us October 25th for the first GHG Protocol Product Program Workshop. The workshop brings together product measurement, reporting, and labeling programs from around the world to: Learn how the GHG Protocol Product Standard can benefit established and developing GHG programs; Discuss ways of promoting consistency and harmonization between programs; Identify areas where the GHG Protocol can provide value and support; and Provide an opportunity for discussion and peer learning on the challenges and opportunities in program development and implementation.

On July 10, WRI launched the Beta version of its new Climate Analysis Indicators Tool, or CAIT 2.0.

Companies have repeatedly called for consistent and credible guidelines on how to account for the GHG emissions from agriculture within their corporate- or farm-level inventories. The GHG Protocol has just released a first draft of the ‘Agricultural Protocol’, aimed at providing exactly those guidelines. The Agricultural Protocol is a supplement to the Corporate Standard and new Scope 3 Standard, outlining how both producers and their supply chain partners (processors, food brand manufacturers, and food retailers, etc.) can measure the GHG impact of agricultural production.

We are excited by the release of the first draft of the Global Protocol for Community-Scale GHG Emissions (GPC) to help cities around the world measure and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using a more consistent protocol.

After a successful nine-month pilot test from May 2013 to January 2014, the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) has been revised and is now available for public comment until August 18th. The authors particularly welcome review by city officials, practitioners, and technical experts in the fields of energy, transportation, waste management, agriculture and forestry. As a global reporting standard, the GPC enables cities and communities to consistently measure and report GHG emissions and develop climate action plans and low-emission urban development strategies.

At the end of each fiscal year, WRI designates ten outcomes across projects and programs as the ‘Top Ten Outcomes’ for a particular year. This year, the GHG Protocol’s work with The Climate Registry and the Mexico GHG Program was recognized as two of these top outcomes.

WRI celebrated its 30th Anniversary on May 23, with the "Courage to Lead" dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City. At the dinner, WRI recognized the contributions of its special guest, philanthropist and Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and honored Stephen Ross, chairman, CEO and founder of Related Companies; and Jonathan Lash, president of Hampshire College and WRI's former president.