Companies around the world are increasingly measuring and managing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in response to drivers like consumer preference, purchaser demands, and sustainability goals.
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol launched two new standards today in New Delhi, India, to empower businesses to better measure, manage, and report their greenhouse gas emissions.
The use of standards to account for corporate greenhouse gases is increasingly common in developed countries – but it is emerging in developing countries as well. In India, companies’ focus on value chain inventories and life cycle thinking is in nascent stages.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Since its creation in 2002, the U.S. EPA Climate Leaders Program has assisted more than 150 companies to develop and implement long-term climate change strategies. This includes developing a GHG inventory, an inventory management plan, and a GHG reduction target. To replicate the U.S. EPA Climate Leaders Program's successful model in India, WRI, U.S. EPA and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Green Business Center (GBC) are partnering together to replicate the Climate Leaders program there.