Carbon Library: footprint

Cap and Trade - International Data and AMEE

International perspectives with a particular focus on data. Written by one of the co-authors of the UK Climate Change Act.

WRI - Working 9 to 5 on Climate Change, An Office Guide

This Guide Provides; An introduction to climate change and the ways that offices contribute to this global problem. Seven simple steps you can take to measure your office’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Suggestions for reducing your office’s CO2 emissions. This Guide is for office-based organizations (“offices”) that do not undertake any manufacturing activities. Examples include consulting companies, research and educational institutions, government agencies, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The methodologies and ideas for reducing your office’s emissions are applicable to a variety of office sizes, types, and locations. And, don’t worry, you won’t need advanced statistics skills to use this Guide, just basic math skills, a calculator, and a spreadsheet program. Organizations that undertake manufacturing activities or have complex organizational and ownership structures, such as partly owned entities or subsidiaries, should refer to The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol Initiative (GHG Protocol) for guidance on measuring and reporting emissions. The information contained in this Guide, as well as the calculation spreadsheets provided on-line, build on and are consistent with the GHG Protocol. For more detailed guidance on measuring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions, see the GHG Protocol. The GHG Protocol standards, guidance, and calculation tools can be downloaded from the Protocol website at http://www.ghgprotocol.org.

WRI - HOT CLIMATE, COOL COMMERCE: A Service Sector Guide to Greenhouse Gas Management

To provide the context for service-sector companies' action, this guide begins with: A brief overview of climate change science and expected impacts. This section describes climate change and why it is occurring, and summarizes some of the anticipated consequences, such as more intense weather events, water and food shortages, and possible changes in the geographic distribution of some infectious diseases. An outline of the connection between climate change and the service sector and the reasons that servicesector companies should take action. This section explains how service-sector companies contribute to global GHG emissions and the economic dangers of climate change that they face. Then we discuss the “business case” for service-sector companies to take action. At the outset, the business must develop a case for taking action and determine its goals for a program responding to climate change. Why should the company undertake this activity? What are the risks of undertaking or not undertaking it? What will the return on its investment be? What are the shortand long-term benefits for the company? How will its stakeholders react? These sections are followed by a step-by-step manual for service-sector businesses ready to begin responding to climate change.

IISD - Trade and Climate Change:Issues in Perspective

In June 2008, IISD collaborated with the Government of Denmark, the German Marshall Fund and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development to convene a major seminar on trade and climate change in Copenhagen. The event's background papers have been revised and finalized, and constitute excellent brief surveys of the key issues in each of the six areas covered: (1) Liberalization of Trade in Environmental Goods for Climate Change Mitigation: The Sustainable Development Context (2) Border Carbon Adjustment (3) Embodied Carbon in Traded Goods (4) Climate Change, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Rights (5) Clean Energy Investment (6) Standards, Labelling and Certification. The event's summary remarks are contained in this comprehensive report that covers all the themes from this meeting. Support for this event came from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Government of Denmark and the German Marshall Fund.

IISD - Embodied Carbon in Traded Goods

The term “embodied carbon” refers to carbon dioxide emitted at all stages of a good’s manufacturing process, from the mining of raw materials through the distribution process, to the final product provided to the consumer. Depending on the calculation, the term can also be used to include other GHGs. While there is some discussion of accounting for a nation’s emissions consumption in a new international climate agreement, more research is needed to assist the international community in properly assessing policy options. • Embodied carbon calculations have only been undertaken for a limited number of products and a wider coverage of products is needed. Related to this is the need for a more systematic analysis of embodied carbon to ensure consistency across calculations. • Regional analysis is also needed, especially in developing countries where the same products could have very different levels of embodied carbon. And international comparative analysis is essential to understand mitigation potential and links with trade issues. • It is important to begin to examine known trade case law to attempt to determine if embodied carbon is compatible with the principles of the multilateral system of trade.

WRI - Bottom Line On - Corporate GHG Inventories

Measurement is critical to effective greenhouse gas (GHG) management. As the United States moves toward a low-carbon economy, companies find it imperative that they keep track of their GHG emissions. This fact sheet answers key questions about corporate GHG inventories and how they relate to other GHG measurement initiatives.

WRI - A Climate Of Innovation, Northeast Business Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gases

In A Climate of Innovation: Northeast Business Action to Reduce Greenhouse Gases, the World Resources Institute draws on the combined experiences of the partners and the activities taken under the Climate Northeast initiative to provide a framework for corporate action on climate change. We hope it will be useful for other businesses getting started with greenhouse-gas management programs and will help inform policy makers about the opportunities and constraints businesses face in moving forward with climate change solutions.

ForumForTheFuture - Getting To Zero

A growing number of companies are claiming to be carbon neutral. This report, prepared jointly by Forum for the Future and Clean Air-Cool Planet, is a guide for companies making such a claim and for stakeholders trying to evaluate whether or not a claim is justified. It explores a number of corporate claims of carbon or climate neutrality, and makes recommendations about what should lie behind any such claim with the aim of building a consensus on what constitutes carbon neutrality.