I. Objectives of the ISO 14064-1 standard
The ISO 14064-1 standard “specifies principles and requirements at the organization level for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals. It includes requirements for the design, development, management, reporting and verification of an organization’s GHG inventory.”
Similar standards exist to quantify and report of GHG emissions and removals, at different levels. For example :
- ISO 14064-2 details principles and requirements for quantifying and reporting of project emissions.
- ISO 14067 defines the principles, requirements and guidelines for the quantification of the carbon footprint of products.
II. General principles
The 5 following principles were used in establishing the standard, but should also serve as guiding principles for any GHG inventory following ISO 14064-1 standard, to ensure that GHG-related information is a true and fair account.
- Relevance
Select the GHG sources and sinks, data and methodologies appropriate to the needs of the intended user. - Completeness
Include all relevant GHG emissions and removals. - Consistency
Enable meaningful comparisons in GHG-related information. - Accuracy
Reduce bias and uncertainties as far as is practical. - Transparency
Disclose sufficient and appropriate GHG-related information to allow intended users to make decisions with reasonable confidence.
III. Nomenclature
You may know the three “scopes” of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (Scope for direct emissions, scope 2 for indirect emissions related to energy and scope 3 for other indirect emissions).
Similarly, the ISO 14064-1 standard categorizes emissions in its own nomenclature, divided in 6 categories.
Each category can then be divided in subcategories.
1) direct GHG emissions and removals (=scope 1 for GHG Protocol)
a. Direct emissions from stationary combustion.
b) Direct emissions from mobile combustion
c) Direct process emissions and removals from industrial processes.
d) Direct fugitive emissions from the release of GHGs in anthropogenic systems
e) Direct emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF)
2) indirect GHG emissions from imported energy (=scope 2 for GHG Protocol)
a) Indirect emissions from imported electricity,
b) Indirect emissions from imported energy, other than electricity
3) indirect GHG emissions from transportation
This category includes transport for persons and goods, and for all modes (rail, maritime, air and road). If transport equipment is owned or controlled by the organization, the emissions shall be taken into account in category 1.b., as direct emissions.
The subcategories are the following :
a) Emissions from upstream transport and distribution for goods
b) Emissions from downstream transport and distribution for goods
c) Emissions from employee commuting
d) Emissions from client and visitor transport
e) Emissions from business travel
4) indirect GHG emissions from products used by organization
a) Emissions from purchased goods
b) Emissions from capital goods
c) Emissions from the disposal of solid and liquid waste
d) Emissions from the used of upstream leased assets
e) Emissions from purchased services
5) indirect GHG emissions associated with the use of products from the organization
a) Emissions and removals from the use stage of the product
b) Emissions from downstream leased assets (owned by the organization and leased to other entities)
c) Emissions from end of life stage of the product
d) Emissions from investments
6) indirect GHG emissions from other sources.
This cateogory includes all the sources that do not correspond to any of the above categories.
IV. How to conduct a GHG inventory following the ISO 14601-1 standard in 9 steps
1. Define the organizational boundaries and the reporting boundaries
Before starting to list sources, collect data and calculate emissions, it is necessary to take a moment to set the organizational and inventory boundaries, in a complete, transparent and coherent way.
Organizational boundaries
Setting the organizational boundaries means determining which facilities, machines, activities, etc are within the organizational boundaries and which ones are not.
It is an important step because emissions from sources within the organizational boundaries will be considered as direct emissions.
Emissions related to the organization’s activities and value chain but that are not within the organizational boundaries will be considered as indirect emissions.
Inventory boundaries
When dealing with a large or complex organization, it is almost impossible to list all the emission sources and calculate the associated emissions.
All direct emissions and indirect emission from imported energy must be listed and accounted for.
For other indirect emission sources, in categories 3 to 6, all significant emission sources must be listed and accounted for.
Setting the inventory boundaries means, for categories 3 to 6, deciding which emission sources can be excluded from the inventory, disclosing all exclusions and demonstrating that they are not significant in terms of volume or strategic importance.
2. Identify and categorize emissions sources
Within the defined organizational and inventory boundaries, it is necessary to identify all emission sources in each subcategory.
To do so, it is often necessary to use different datasets, to make sure that no significant emission source is forgotten.
For example, datasets often used are accounting files, documents detailing purchases, sales reports, organizational charts, quality management charts, etc.
Using several datasets implies a higher risk of double counting emission sources (when a single source is listed in two different subcategories, or twice in the same subcategory). It is therefore necessary to check that there is no double counting at the end of this step.
Account for removals and sinks: If applicable, account for any GHG removals or sinks present within the defined boundaries.
3. For each source, collect activity data and choose an emission factor
Collect activity data:
Gather relevant activity data associated with each emissions source. This includes information such as fuel use, production output, quantity, weight or monetary data.
When several activity data types are available, the most precise and reliable should be used :
Infography by Carbon University
Select emission factors
Identify the appropriate emission factor to calculate GHG emissions from the collected activity data. Emission factors provide conversion ratios between activity data and GHG emissions.
4. Calculate GHG emissions
Multiply the activity data by the corresponding emission factors to calculate the GHG emissions for each source. Aggregate the emissions by subcategory, by category and for the entire organization.
5. Quality assurance and control:
Implement quality assurance and control measures to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data and calculations. In this step, you should review data sources and apply statistical checks.
6. Prepare the GHG inventory report
Compile the calculated GHG emissions and removals data into a comprehensive report. Include all necessary details, such as the methodology used, data sources, assumptions made, and any limitations or uncertainties.
7. Conduct a third-party verification (optional):
Consider engaging an independent third-party verifier to review and validate your GHG inventory. Verification provides assurance to stakeholders that your inventory follows the ISO 14064-1 requirements and meets relevant standards.
8. Continuous improvement and inventory update
Establish a monitoring system to regularly track and update the GHG inventory.
During the inventory, everytime data was missing or of insufficient quality to list sources or calculate emissions in a reliable and precise manner, continuous improvement measures for data collection must be implemented to make sure that the quality of the next inventory improves.
9. And after ?
Although realizing the GHG inventory of your organization is an essential step in the reduction of the GHG emissions related to your activity, it is inefficient if the inventory is not followed by the definition of science based reduction targets and a transition plan to achieve these targets.
Communication to relevant internal and external stakeholders is also an essential step to succeed in this low-carbon journey.
Setting science based targets
Now that you have calculated the total emissions for your organization in T CO2e, you should set absolute CO2 emission targets in line with the scientific consensus. The Science Based Target Initiative website offers tools and guidance to set such targets.
For European Union registered companies, Carbon University also offers this free tool to set GHG reduction targets in line with the European 2030 “-55%” target, in line with the Paris Agreement.
Building a transition plan to achieve these targets
After setting targets, you need to build a transition plan, with reduction actions that will make it possible to reach them.
It is necessary to evaluate in tons of CO2e the impact of every action, to make sure that the plan will enable the organization to reach its targets.
To ensure the implementation of the plan in time and manner, it is also necessary to set SMART KPIs.
Communication
Internal and external communication are also key in the success of the low carbon journey of an organization.
Internally, it is important to communicate on the GHG inventory results and explain well the main axis and the timeline of the transition plan. Each team and each manager should know clearly what is is carbon budget for the next year and which reduction actions s.he has to implement.
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