In order to improve the credibility of the organization's carbon emission reporting, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has issued the ISO14064 standard (full name: "ISO 14064-1 Specifications and Guidelines for the Quantification and Reporting of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Removals at the Organizational Level"), which specifies in detail the principles and requirements of the company's greenhouse gas inventory, the methods and principles for quantifying the organization's greenhouse gas emissions, the clear improvement measures, and the content and specifications of the report. This article is intended to introduce the main points of the standard in detail, and the general content and process of the standard are shown in the figure.
1. Principles
Relevance, Completeness, Consistency, Transparency, Accuracy. These principles indicate the purpose and direction of the standard, ensure complete and transparent information on greenhouse gases, avoid bias in the selection of information and description of greenhouse gases, and use universally accepted theoretical methods, including the standard, for comparison of sources, sites and organizations of greenhouse gas emissions.
2. Greenhouse inventory boundaries
1) Organizational boundaries
Defines the scope of business and responsibility that organizations consider when quantifying and reporting GHG emissions, and is used to determine which sources and offset projects are included and which are not. The determination of organizational boundaries is critical to GHG management, as it directly affects the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the measurement, monitoring and reporting of GHG emissions. Emissions and removals from facilities are aggregated in the following two ways.
● Direct control: Organizational boundaries typically include all activities and processes under the direct control of the organization, and the GHG emissions generated by these activities should be included in the organization's GHG inventory. This may include things like the organization's facilities, equipment, and operations.
● Financial control: In addition to the boundaries of direct control, organizational boundaries can also extend to entities over which the organization has financial control, such as subsidiaries or joint ventures. This means that even though these entities may be legally separate, their GHG emissions should be included in the parent company's GHG inventory.
2) Running boundaries
Refers to the extent to which an organization has direct control and management responsibility for the greenhouse gas emissions and removals generated by its day-to-day operations. This boundary is established to quantify, monitor and report on greenhouse gas emissions from the organization's own activities and is within the scope of the organization's internal management and control. It can be classified as direct emissions (from energy use, production processes, and other activities within the organization), indirect energy emissions (from the production of electricity, heat, or steam from external inputs), and other indirect emissions (emissions from other activities or products of the organization over the course of their life cycle).
3. Greenhouse gas quantification methods
The standard provides a variety of methods for quantifying GHG emissions, including calculation, monitoring, and a combination of calculation and monitoring. and ensure that the chosen method accurately reflects GHG emissions.
When choosing a quantitative approach, organizations should choose the one that best suits their specific situation:
● Consideration should be given to whether the method is applicable to its specific GHG source or sink. For example, for direct emission sources, on-site monitoring or direct calculation methods may be required, while for indirect emissions, energy consumption-based calculations may be required.
● Consideration should be given to the quantification method chosen that accurately reflects the realities of GHG emissions and removals and ensures consistency across time periods or across facilities. This helps organizations to do time series analysis and comparisons.
4. Base year
A base year is a specific historical period that serves as a reference point for comparing GHG emissions and removals over different time periods. Organizations should choose a representative historical period as the base year, usually a full fiscal year or other period of material to the organization. The choice of base year should reflect the level of operations and activities of the organization in order to provide a stable basis for comparison of subsequent GHG emissions and removals. By setting a base year, organizations can quantify changes in GHG emissions and removals from that year to the current day, thereby assessing the effectiveness of their environmental performance and reduction efforts.
5. Organize activities in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing removals
Organizations can plan and implement direct actions to reduce GHG emissions or increase GHG removals. Examples of actions include: improving energy efficiency, greenhouse gas capture and storage, managing transport and transport demand, afforestation, alternative fuels and raw materials, refrigerant management, etc. The standard stipulates that changes in the amount of greenhouse gases resulting from direct actions should be included in the organization's GHG inventory and reported separately. GHG emission reductions or removals from the purchase of offsets by the organization or from the implementation of projects should also be reported separately.
6. Greenhouse gas report content
● A description of the reported organization;
● Responsible person;
● The time period covered by the report;
● Documentation of organizational boundaries;
● Quantify the direct GHG emissions for each GHG and convert the results into tonnes of CO2 equivalent;
● Describe how CO2 from biomass combustion is treated in the GHG inventory;
● If GHG removals are quantified, in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent;
● Explain the exclusion of any GHG source or sink from quantification;
● Separate quantification of indirect energy emissions associated with the production of externally imported electricity, heat or steam, in tonnes of CO2 equivalent:
● Selected historical base year and base year GHG inventory;
● Explain any changes to base year or other GHG data, or recalculations of base year or past GHG inventories;
● Explain the choice of quantitative methodology and the reasons for choosing it, or specify relevant reference materials;
● Any changes in the quantitative methodology should be explained prior to use;
● Documentation or references to the GHG emissions or removal factors used;
● Explain the impact of uncertainties in the accuracy of GHG emissions and removal data;
● Explain that the GHG report has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the standard;
● A description of whether the GHG inventory, report or declaration has been verified, as well as the type of verification and the level of assurance.
For more information, please feel free to send us a private message: AMT Qiyuan Carbon Management Team.
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