Greenhouse Gas Emissions Verification

It is now official and validated – Greenhouse gases’ (GHG) contribution to air pollution endangers the public’s health.  In April 2009, as ordered by the US Supreme Court in 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the findings of two years of research.  In its 130-page report, it concluded, “In both magnitude and probability, climate change is an enormous problem.  The greenhouse gases that are responsible for it endanger public health and welfare within the meaning of the Clean Air Act.”

While there are numerous voluntary GHG emissions reporting and reduction initiatives in place at regional levels in the US, only a handful of states have promulgated regulations requiring GHG emission reporting and committing to specific emission reduction targets.  For the first time, EPA findings in this report pave the way for federal government to take regulatory actions to measurably curb and reduce GHG emissions.

On the legislative end, President Obama has made climate change a clear focus of his administration and requested Congress to send him “legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution.”  In fact, Congressional hearing of the discussion draft “The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009” co-sponsored by Reps. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Edward Markey (D-MA) began on April 21, 2009. 

Inventory and disclosure of GHG emissions may soon no longer be just another voluntary initiative but a mandate and public expectation.  Whether your organization is obligated to prepare and submit GHG inventory report or elects to disclose GHG emissions voluntarily, accredited independent evaluation of your emission inventory provides management necessary assurance, and required verification under various reporting schemes, to ensure that your GHG emission or reduction assertion is complete, accurate, consistent, transparent and materially sound. 

BSI is the world’s leader in standards, auditing, certification and verification.  Our robust third party verification process embraces the highest standards of quality assurance while focusing on business needs that provide clients with unparalleled assessments and values.  With years of global experience in practically every industry, BSI has the demonstrated competency and capability managing complex, multi-national, multi-site emissions verifications. 

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Benefits associated with undertaking third-party, independent verification of GHG emissions inventory are far beyond regulatory mandate:

• Financial
  Independent verification assists management to better understand the organization’s operational carbon footprint, identify carbon “hot spots” for prioritization of improvement actions, recognizes potential business risks and liabilities, as well as fulfills pertinent reporting obligations.
• Credibility
  Independent verification provides a degree of credibility when it comes to reporting and making public disclosure.  This has implications for interested parties including employees, customers, suppliers, investors, shareholders, insurers, media, and regulators.
• Integrity
  Independent verification offers the assurance necessary to demonstrate to your stakeholders that the GHG assertion is faithfully represented with a recognized level of materiality, conforming to relevant reporting standards and protocol requirements, and has been collected, analyzed, calculated, and aggregated in a consistent and reliable manner.
• Transparency
  Reporting independently verified GHG emission data demonstrates your commitment to stakeholder transparency and accountability. Whether the GHG emission report is in the form of standalone public disclosure, or as part of a corporate sustainability report, effective stakeholder communication derives from reporting transparency.   
• Consistency
  Independent emissions verification ensures that your emission measurement and calculations are consistent from one reporting period to another according to set protocols.  By applying a unique process-oriented verification methodology developed by our experienced GHG verification team, we ensure that your reporting is suited for the purpose for which it is designated.
• Recognition
  An accredited verification is critical for the reporting organization to realize and benefit from general recognition.  Our GHG emission verification process is accredited by the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) Greenhouse Gas Verification Program in the US.  BSI also holds similar GHG verification accreditations elsewhere in the world.

Adding value through third-party verification

Independent GHG emission assertion verification provides measurable business value for the organizations. Undertaking the process towards verification will assist you in:

• Reducing costs and optimizing operational energy efficiency
• Prioritizing actions for process improvement 
• Quantifying and mitigating business risks
• Promoting confidence and management assurance 
• Demonstrating management commitment 
• Driving process and product innovation 
• Advancing transparency in stakeholder communication
• Enhancing organizational values
• Positioning organization for mandatory GHG emission reporting and/or reduction
• Presenting credible and dependable disclosure to investors and other stakeholders
  

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Technically speaking, verification is defined as “systematic, independent and documented process for the evaluation of a greenhouse gas assertion against agreed verification criteria” (reference ISO 14064-3:2006).   Our GHG verification process focuses on assurance of five fundamental elements of an assertion: relevance, completeness, consistency, accuracy, and transparency. 

The following verification process is comprised of four segments, namely, Strategic Analysis, Process Analysis, Risk Analysis, and Report…

1. Strategic analysis - enables us to gain an overview of the project activities and an understanding of the significance of emissions.
2. Process analysis - an on-site verification of information, involving spot checks to determine data reliability.
3. Risk analysis – verifies risk control methods, minimizing uncertainty and evaluating the reliability of data from each source.
4. Our report - specifies the issues uncovered in the verification work and will provide a qualified opinion that reported emissions are not materially misstated.

We have extensive international experience in:

• Accredited GHG emission or reduction assertion verifications 
• Gap assessment and verification 
• Group or industry sector-based verifications 
• Multi-site, multi-protocol verifications

If you are seeking a competitive quotation for verification of your organization’s greenhouse gas emissions, please contact us.

If you’re already one of our clients and have various standards in place, your Client Manager can help you assess where you are now, and guide you through to the verification process.

If you’re new to BSI, don’t worry, it’s a simple process.

1. Make contact

Get in touch and tell us what you need, so we can sort out the best services for you. We’ll then give you a proposal detailing the cost and time involved in verifying your greenhouse gas emissions.

2. Meet your GHGEV team

We’ll assign you a Client Manager, who will be your main point of contact through the process – and beyond. They’ll understand your business area and will support you as you hone your measurement skills and move on to submit your annual emissions to your stakeholders.

Request a quote, find out more about training courses or contact us for more details.