The creators of isology®

We’re inching closer to our 2030 and 2050 Net Zero targets, and if we keep going the way we are, we’re not going to hit either one.  

This is unsurprising considering the lack of a unified approach to achieving Net Zero. There are a lot of options to tackle certain aspects of sustainability, but few outline an entire pathway to guide businesses towards a tangible goal.

However, that may be set to change with the release of ISO 14068-1:2023 – Climate Change Management!

In this weeks’ episode Mel explains what BS ISO 14068 is, who can use the Standard, and how this Standard can combat green washing.  

You’ll learn

• What is ISO 14068?
• Who is this Standard for?
• Why was this Standard created?
• How can ISO 14068 help businesses to tackle climate change
• How can ISO 14068 help combat green washing

Resources

• Carbonology
• Grab a copy of our Net Zero Planner
• ISO 14068

In this episode, we talk about:

[00:25] Introduction and episode summary – ISO 14068 has just been published, superseding PAS 2060. In this episode, we’ll explore what this Standard is all about, how it can help you and help prevent green washing.

Keep an eye out for our follow-up episode, which will give you more insight into the 10 reasons for adopting this Standard to achieve Net Zero in 2024.

[01:40] A passion for Sustainability – If you’re new, you may not be aware that Mel is the CEO of both Blackmores and Carbonology. Carbonology was created as a sister company in 2023, and it’s sole purpose is to help businesses to be able to demonstrate with credibility and complete transparency – A legitimate route to achieving carbon neutrality.

[03:00]  What is ISO 14068-1:2023? – This is standard for businesses transitioning to Net Carbon zero.

The standard for specifies the requirements for achieving and demonstrating carbon neutrality through the quantification, reduction, removal and offsetting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

[03:30] Who can use this Standard? BS ISO 14068-1:2023 can be used by any organization, in the private or public sectors, that wishes to make either the organization or a product climate neutral. Products may be consumer-facing or business to business, and include all types of goods and services, including events and financial services.

[04:05] Why has this Standard been developed now?: To avoid the worst effects and keep the rise in global temperatures to no more than 1.5°C, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of eminent scientists has identified that we need to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 40% in this decade and to global net zero by 2050.

However, working towards a long-term target of net zero can be difficult without recognition of achievements along the pathway. That’s where carbon neutrality can help; organisations that have a clear plan and have started making real greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions can counterbalance their remaining carbon footprint using high quality carbon credits / offsets to achieve carbon neutrality.

ISO 14068-1 is the new International Standard that sets out requirements for organisations wishing to achieve carbon neutrality, including for products, such as goods, services or events.

ISO 14068-1 also provides a rigorous and robust framework for avoiding greenwashing, and builds on the 15 years’ experience of the previous Standard – PAS 2060.

Organizations using the standard will benefit in two main ways: internally, through having a clear guide on best practice in reaching carbon neutrality; and externally, by demonstrating compliance with a rigorous standard on carbon neutrality.

[06:40] How can the standard help businesses that are still scratching their heads about how to tackle climate change? –  The standard provides clear principles that entities need to consider when seeking carbon neutrality. These include establishing a hierarchy, so that GHG emission reductions are made first – and reductions are often the most cost-effective way of reducing a carbon footprint, avoiding the need for potentially costly carbon credits.

The hierarchy is then used to determine a pathway to carbon neutrality, including short- and long-term targets for minimising the carbon footprint. The standard also explains how the pathway is used in developing a detailed carbon neutrality management plan, which provides clear guidance for those responsible for the implementation of carbon neutrality.

[08:30] How can the standard combat green washing? In recent years, there have been many claims of carbon neutrality that are unsubstantiated or supported only by purchasing a few carbon credits, with a consequent risk of greenwashing.

Following BS ISO 14068-1 means organiations will be able to demonstrate that their claim of carbon neutrality is underpinned by real action to reduce GHG emissions and includes a clear pathway to eliminate all possible GHG emissions, so it does not just fall back on purchasing carbon credits in the market. This significantly improves the credibility of a claim.

[09:45] Keep an eye out for future episodes! We’ll be talking more about ISO 14068 in future episodes, including the benefits of adopting this Standard. We’ll also dedicate an episode to explaining the difference between Certification and Verification – so stay tunned!

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episode’s:

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The demand for tangible sustainability action is becoming more pressing as we inch closer to our 2030 and 2050 Net Zero targets.

However, that is still quite a way off, and many businesses are dragging their feet when it comes to taking action. Sure, some may have an ESG Policy or mention it on their website, however that term is starting to become synonymous with green washing due to poor implementation in many cases.

So, what can you do to make a difference right now?

In this weeks’ episode Mel explains the principle of Parkinson’s law, how ISO Standards can help to tackle climate change and how you can achieve Net Zero in just 90 days.

You’ll learn

• What Parkinson’s Law is
• How can ISO standards help tackle climate change
• The 3 reasons why businesses are behind on achieving net zero
• How you can achieve Net Zero in just 90 days using the Net Zero Planner

Resources

• Carbonology
• Register for EMEX here
• Grab a copy of our Net Zero Planner

In this episode, we talk about:

[00:25] Come visit the Carbonology stand at EMEX! – EMEX is a free exhibition to learn about carbon management, ESG and sustainability. It takes place at ExCeL London on 22nd – 23rd November 2023 – Carbonology will be at Stand G38. Come grab a free Net Zero Planner while you’re there! Register your place here.

[02:10] Episode Summary – Today we’ll be talking about why we need to act now rather than in a decade or two, how ISO Standards can play a critical role in tackling climate change and using the Net Zero Planner to help you set achievable objectives to work towards Net Zero in just 90 days.    

[02:55]  We need to act now rather than later! – Our 2030 and 2050 targets are very far away, which results in businesses not doing much to address them in the meantime.

They might have an ESG policy or they might have something referencing ESG on their website, but are they actually taking action right now to make that happen? In many cases, no. Which is where Parkinson’s Law comes into play.

[03:40] What is Parkinson’s Law? Parkinson’s Law is the idea that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. This may mean you take longer than necessary to complete a task or you procrastinate and complete the task right before the due date.

Parkinson’s Law is the old adage that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. The term was first coined by Cyril Northcote Parkinson in a humorous essay he wrote for “The Economist” in 1955.

Lets say you are given a task to complete a report in 3 weeks, chances are if you were given the task to do in 1 week – you’d make it happen.

Parkinson’s Law says that the perceived importance and difficulty of a task will grow in proportion to the amount of time given to finish it.

[05:30] Is it possible to achieve Net Zero in 2024?: Yes! Carbonology® been turning around projects to help businesses to build net carbon neutral in less than three months –  so why can’t you?

[06:05] The Net Zero Planner –  The Net Zero in 90 days planner gives you a pathway to follow to achieve Net Carbon Zero.

Each day focuses on a specific task, enabling you to make step by step progress to achieve your goals.

Your Net Zero Planner provides the foundations for not only achieving Net Zero but also achieving verification to Carbon standards along the way. Grab a copy here!

[08:25] What role do ISO Standards play in tackling climate change? Standards have a critical role in helping meet climate goals. Particularly when there is an influx of greenwashing across industries.

The international standards for carbon verification (ISO 14064) and carbon neutrality (PAS 2060, due to be ISO 14064 in 2024) support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and create a level playing field, providing transparency, reliability, accountability and without a doubt, credibility.

[10:00] So why are businesses struggling to achieve Net Zero? there are three reasons why businesses are behind on achieving Net Zero:-

• Time and resources have not been dedicated.
• Lack of focus and structure
• Lack of knowledge on what to do

The Net Zero Planner will help to address these challenges.

[11:15] Carbonology is there to support you – Some of the tasks in the planner may be tricky – quantifying your emissions for example, this is always going to be challenging.

Carbonology is there to support you, either with consultancy or digital resources via the Carbonologyhub. If you need some extra assistance, simply contact them.

[11:55] How can the Net Zero Planner help you? –  First and foremost, Net zero is not going to happen, unless you prioritise your time.

This starts with designing your ideal week. Imagine how would you structure your week if you had 100% control. What does your ideal week look like?

Remember, What gets scheduled gets done.  Sticking to a plan takes discipline, but imagine if every business dedicated 2 hours a day for 3 months, we’d be achieving net zero well before 2050!

By setting aside 2 hours a day to complete a Net Zero task, you and your team will be well equipped to put your planning in place and achieve Net Zero accreditation! Of course, not every week will be aligned with your ideal week, but it’s a guide that you can refer back to.

 [13:00] Making progress with the Net Zero Planner –  It’s imperative you review progress on a weekly and monthly basis and at the end of the 9O days. This will help to drive momentum when you see what you’ve achieved and also provide a reality check if you need additional support or time.

The weekly, monthly and quarterly review provides an opportunity to look back at your progress and allows you time to reflect on what went well, and where you’ve been having challenges which may result in making decisions to address any shortfalls.

 This could include allowing more time for a specific task the following week, delegating responsibilities internally or outsourcing activities i.e. carbon quantification or verification.

It’s recommended that you schedule this review and reflection time in your calendar i.e. 1 hour on a Friday afternoon or at the end of the month. In addition to the structured planner pages, there are blank pages for expanding on your ideas and taking notes.

[15:25] Special Deal! –  The Net Zero Planner is available for Amazon at a reduced price of £7.99 until the 15^th December 2023. The Standard price will be £14.99. If you’re at EMEX on the 22^nd or 23^rd November 2023, we have 100 free copies to give away!

Lastly, if you have an questions or would like to learn more about how Carbonology can help you, feel free to book a call in via David’s Calendly.

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episode’s:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube | iTunes | Soundcloud |

Sustainability has become a top topic to address in the last few years, both for businesses and individuals. In fact, 90% of business leaders think sustainability is important, but only 60% actually have a sustainability Strategy.

The demand for tangible action is becoming more pressing as we inch close to the 2030 milestone of the Paris Agreement.

To encourage action from businesses, we’re seeing more public and private sector contracts include a tendering requirement to show your commitment to sustainability. One such example is the need for a PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan.

In this weeks’ episode David Algar, Principal Carbonologist® at Carbonology, joins Mel to explain how to create a Carbon Reduction Plan, shares some top tips on presentation and how Carbonology® can support you.

You’ll learn

• How to create a Carbon Reduction Plan
• How Carbonology® can help you align that plan with ISO 14064 and PAS 2060
• Addressing difficult tendering questions
• How to best present your Carbon Reduction Plan

Resources

• Carbonology
• Book a call with David Algar
• A quick Guide to creating your PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan

In this episode, we talk about:

[00:24] What are PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plans? – Go back and listen to our previous episode to learn more.  

[00:42] Episode Summary – Today we’ll be talking about how to create a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP), how to deal with difficult tendering questions and the best ways in which to present your CRP.   

[02:46]  How do you actually calculate the emissions? We have gone into this in a lot more detail on a previous episode, but to summarise:-

Emissions are calculated by taking your activity data, such as kWh of electricity, or miles driven in a vehicle, and multiplying it by an emission conversion factor.

Specific emission conversion factors are available from DEFRA for specific activity data, they are also year-specific.

The hard part is sourcing your activity data, accounting for missing information, performing estimates, and ensuring the overall methodology is accurate.

This is all done in alignment with ISO1464-1, as well as the PPN guidelines, so one of the very first things we’ll do with you is define your organisational and reporting boundaries,

[05:27] How can a business set carbon reduction targets and forecast emissions? This is tricky as it involves trying to predict the future, not just in the short term, but potentially several decades ahead depending on your goal.

The good thing is you know the end destination of your carbon pathway: little to no emissions by 2050.

Using this and some simple maths you can at least map out where you should be each year when moving forward from the base year, the base year being the period you use to compare future results against.

Usually the base year is the first year you complete calculations, but this can change over time. We’re finding some clients are opting to change their base year to account for the disruption of COVID-19 on operations

[06:40] How do you actually set the targets?: When we look at target setting and emission forecasts we generally take 2 approaches:

Milestones:

• The first, and our most common approach, is about setting milestones based on specific carbon reduction initiatives the business can implement, at specific dates.
• For instance, all company vehicles being hybrid by 2025 and fully EV by 2035? Or what if we phased out gas by a certain date? Or cut out all single use plastics?
• Using this milestone method for the forecasting can be tricky, but you can end up with a carbon pathway that is more representative of real life. 

Straight line method:

• The second is what we refer to as the ‘straight line’ method. This is a simpler approach that involves doing some simple maths to plan out your carbon targets for each year, without factoring in specific milestones or events.
• We refer to this unofficially as the ‘straight line’ method as the graph showing your carbon pathway is pretty much a straight line from your base year towards net zero, using the milestones method gives a ’bumpy’ line due to the influence of specific milestones at specific years.

[08:35] A tip for setting targets for the first time is by thinking ‘what if? This is essentially looking at the thing you’re doing now and replacing it with a more sustainable alternative. For instance, calculating what your business travel emissions would be last year if they were all completed in hybrids, or if domestic flights were replaced by train journeys.

Doing these ‘what if?’ calculations is a bit hypothetical as operations are likely to change over the years, but it still helps give you a specific target to aim for a specific GHG sources.

[10:40] How can you influence carbon reduction in areas where you have no direct control? Some areas will be out of your control, for instance if you ship goods in from around the world you can’t necessarily decide how they get to you, or if they are transported via more sustainable transport.

• One thing you can do is aim to set a good example yourself as a business
• You could also adopt the PPN framework yourself and request it from anyone that is aiming to win your business
• Another quick win is actually speaking to your suppliers. If you use a local delivery firm you could speak to them about their plans for an electric fleet, or more sustainable packaging. Or if you use a data centre, you could enquire about if is run on renewable energy sources

[13:15] But what if we are planning to grow as a business? Results are expected to fluctuate over time, so if they go up after the base year this shouldn’t impact your success or failure in your tender submission. The aim is obviously to decrease on average over time

If you know for certain that they will increase in the next few years, for instance through opening new sites, making acquisitions, or just natural growth, that’s ok.

You could pick a new base year if operations significantly change as this will give a more realistic figure to work down from. You can also use this as an opportunity to evidence efficiency improvements through intensity metrics, such as your tonnes of carbon per employee, or relative to your revenue.

 [15:15] In what other ways can Carbonology help to support you? – Once everyone is happy with the CRP, you’ll then have to actually use it in tenders. The fun thing about tenders is that they can all ask different questions, despite PPN having technical requirements, so you can’t always have the information to hand before submitting one.

We can’t write your tender submissions for you, but we can provide guidance and pull out the necessary figures if requested, for instance if you need certain numbers to support with your Social Value Model reporting.

[16:20] How can this help on your journey to Carbon Neutrality? –  If you’ve gone through all the hard work to create a PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan, you’ll be in the ideal position to achieve carbon neutrality of your operations via PAS 2060.

The next step would be creating a PAS 2060 Qualifying Explanatory Statement, or QES, which details how you have achieved carbon neutrality through offsetting, and your commitment to maintain this for future reporting periods.

[17:25] Where does the verification come into play? If you’ve already calculated your emissions you may be asked to have them independently verified by an independent third party.

We’ve recently developed a process so we can check over you GHG calculations, policies, procedure and overall alignment with the standard.

As part of this, Carbonology can provide a verification report with all findings and opportunities for improvement, as a well as a verification statement to show you have had emission independently verified in alignment with ISO 14064.

For further information, David has prepared a quick guide for creating your PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan. Download it from the resources area above.

Lastly, if you have an questions or would like to learn more about how Carbonology can help you, feel free to book a call in via David’s Calendly.

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episode’s:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube | iTunes | Soundcloud |

Sustainability has become one of the main focal points for businesses to address in the last few years, and for good reason! We’re already seeing the devastating effects of simply doing nothing in the form of more extreme weather, occurring much more frequently in areas not equip to handle it.

To encourage action from businesses, we’re seeing more public and private sector contracts include a tendering requirement to show your commitment to sustainability. One such example is the need for a PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan.

In this weeks’ episode David Algar, Principal Carbonologist at Carbonology, joins Mel to explain exactly what PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plans are, what the requirements mean in practice and the consequences if a business does not meet the requirements.

You’ll learn

• What are PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plans?
• What the requirements mean in practice
• Benefits to a business
• What if a business does not meet the requirements?

Resources

• Carbonology
• Book a call with David Algar
• A quick Guide to creating your PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan

In this episode, we talk about:

[00:42] Episode Summary – We’re talking about PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plans because there is a government requirement to submit one. This episode will cover the what and why, in part 2 we’ll go into more detail about how to create a Carbon Reduction Plan.   

[02:10]  What is a PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan? Procurement Policy Note 06/21 was introduced back in June 2021, hence the 06/21 part, and is a tendering requirement for companies looking to win contracts in the public sector that links to the Government’s Net Zero target.

[02:28] What is the UK government’s Net Zero target? The ‘net zero target’ refers to a government commitment to ensure the UK reduces its emissions by 100% from 1990 levels by 2050.  

[02:55] Who does PPN apply to?: Public sector, so any businesses that works with education, local authorities, housing, infrastructure, defence, transit, and of course, the NHS who have set a goal of Net Zero by 2040.

Officially this is for contracts that are valued at £5M or more, but in April 2024 the NHS will be requesting a Carbon Reduction Plan for all procurement.

Unofficially, this framework could be adopted by any business, so even if you don’t deal directly with the public sector, or are a subcontractor, your supply chain may soon be requesting a Carbon Reduction Plan!

[04:05] Why do you need a Carbon Reduction Plan? Although the Government’s targets and policies around Net Zero keep changing, the overall goal of PPN 06/21 is to encourage businesses to reach Net Zero before 2050, come up with a plan to do so, and implement emission reduction initiatives in the delivery of Government contracts.

[04:35] From a businesses perspective, what are the main benefits? There are 2 main benefits:

• It’s essential for some tendering, with as much as a 10% weighting based on your carbon management and social values. Put simply, if you don’t produce one when needed, you may fail the tender requirements and probably won’t make the sale.
• The second main benefit is that this isn’t just a piece of paper with a graph on it, it’s a great opportunity to investigate your business’ GHG emissions, and put a plan in place to reduce them. This also helps you show to stakeholders that you are actually committed to environmental protection and could identify some cost savings in your business after going through all the data.
• It’s also a great addition to any existing ISO 14001 or ISO 50001 Management Systems!

[06:10] What are the key requirements of PPN 06/21? –    Firstly you’ll need to make a commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 at the latest. This includes annually calculating your emissions and updating the Carbon Reduction Plan.

Next you’ll need to report on a minimum set of GHG categories: 100% of your Scope 1 emissions, so direct emission from company vehicles, gas heating (so stuff you burn) and any fugitive emissions, which are leaks from HVAC systems for most businesses. 100% of your Scope 2 emissions which is electricity most of the time but can also refer to steam you import from an external source.

You’ll also need to report on 5 Scope 3 categories, these are your indirect emissions:

• Waste generated in operations
• Business travel in vehicles you don’t own, so staff cars, flights, trains, etc
• Commuting, so staff traveling to and from work, being careful not to double count business travel not already claimed under expenses
• And arguably the most complicated, upstream and downstream transportation, i.e. goods in, and goods out – physical transport of goods

[09:50] Are there any other categories covered by scope 3 that we should consider? –  Generally, when we produce a CRP for our clients, we’ll look at a few extra Scope 3 categories such as water, homeworking, or purchased goods, so carbon reduction planning can extend to other elements of the business. In all cases you’ll need to report in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, or tCO2e, as this accounts for the global warming potential of multiple GHGs.

[11:30] Are there any ISO standards that you can align the Carbon Reduction Plan to? Yes! At Carbonology, we use ISO 14064-1. This sets out a series requirements and guiding principles for the quantification and reporting of emissions. We wouldn’t necessarily have to go all the way to meeting every single requirement of the standard for your CRP but we always align with the key requirement of the standard when completing a CRP.

And if you’re lucky we’ll also cover your SECR figures!

[12:05] What is SECR? –  Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting. This is mandatory reporting for businesses that are defined as large, so 250+ staff, and 36M turnover or 18M on the balance sheet.

[18:20] Asset Management –  In 8.2 there is a consideration for Asset Management on your side. You should take care of any assets relating to the customer, where it’s stored and how it’s being looked after.

Standards such as ISO 27001 (Information Security) and ISO 55001 (Asset Management) already have some considerations for this.

[13:30] You’ve calculated your GHG results, what’s next?-  Once you’ve calculated emission from the required sources, you’ll then need to look at the carbon reduction side of your Carbon Reduction Plan.

To start with you’ll need to outline existing initiatives you have, for instance, a sustainable travel policy, EV charging on site or a hybrid working model. It’s really important that these are relevant to the delivery of the contract you are trying to secure.

Next, you’ll need to outline planned future initiatives, but bear in mind, these will need to be realistic and relevant, so no wild claims about buying an EV fleet or going zero waste next week!

Once you’ve done all this you can then start looking at carbon reduction forecasts and what the numbers might look like between now and 2050 (or you chosen date.

[15:10] Additional PPN 06/21 tips from David:  It will need to be signed off by a director, or equivalent, at your business to demonstrate leadership commitment. If the document isn’t signed off on you may fail on the tender.

You’ll need to publish it on your website, making it easy to access. Simple solution to this is just add a link at the bottom of your landing page.

And finally, you’ll need to make sure this is kept up to date each year. Reporting for emissions occurs on a 12 monthly basis. This can either be calendar year or your financial year, but ideally, you’ll want to publish the updated version as soon as you can after the year-end, certainly no longer than 6 months after.

[16:40] What does a Carbon Reduction Plan look like? – When the government announced this requirement, they also released a template document that businesses can complete. This is to simplify the process for businesses that are reporting on emission for the first time, but more importantly it standardises reporting. However, the template is a bit basic!

You’re not marked on presentation, but you can dress it up a little as long as you don’t deviate from the template too much. So feel free to put come company branding on it, make a cover page, change the font, etc.

You could also make a ‘full’ version of your CRP that includes further details on boundaries, methodologies and results, just make sure you only submit the template version to tenders.

[19:10] What happens if you don’t meet the requirements? – If you don’t meet the requirements without a valid reason, chances are you’ll fail the selection criteria. The selection criteria is a bit like the marking scheme associated with PPN. We can’t say for a fact that this means you’ll subsequently fail the tender, but it will certainly have a negative impact.

For further information, David has prepared a quick guide for creating your PPN 06/21 Carbon Reduction Plan. Feel free to download it below.

Lastly, if you have an questions or would like to learn more about how Carbonology can help you, feel free to book a call in via David’s Calendly.

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episode’s

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube | iTunes | Soundcloud |

This episode is the final part of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

This time, our resident Carbonologist David Algar is talking through the seventh step of the Carbonology process, ‘Declare’.

David explains the purpose of a formal declaration, different ways companies can make their declaration, and the different ways you can promote your achievement of carbon neutrality.

You’ll learn

• The purpose of a formal declaration.
• The key outcomes of the ‘Declare’ step.
• The different ways you can make a declaration.
• The pros and cons of doing your declaration internally.
• How long your declaration is valid for.
• Ways to promote achieving carbon neutrality.

Resources

• Davids Calender
• isology Hub
• Blackmores
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[01:56] A recap of the 7 steps to carbonology.

[04:02] The purpose of having a formal declaration.

[04:57] What the formal declaration involves.

[06:55] Different ways to make a declaration and which one’s most popular.

[08:31] How long your declaration is valid for.

[09:20] The importance of having an unambiguous declaration.

[10:07] The key outcomes and deliverables of the ‘Declare’ step.

[10:43] How publicised your Qualifying Explanatory Statement should be.

[11:27] Ways to promote achieving carbon neutrality.

[13:42] What companies tend to do after achieving carbon neutrality.

[14:23] Why it’s easier making a declaration in the second year.

[15:15] How to find out more information about the 7 step methodology.

[16:02] The importance of data.

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact the Carbonologyhub

Don’t forget to download your free ‘Getting Started with Carbonology’ Checklist here:

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud

This episode is Part 6 of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

This time, our resident Carbonologist David Algar is talking through the sixth step of the Carbonology process, ‘Offset’.

David explains what companies can do to offset emissions, how offsetting works in relation to PAS 2060, and the importance of picking the right Offset provider.

You’ll learn

• Different types of Offsetting.
• How Offsetting works in relation to PAS 2060.
• How long Carbon Offsetting Credits last.
• What to consider before buying an Offset.
• The importance of picking the right Offset provider.

Resources

• UK Woodland Carbon Code
• United Nations Offset Platform
• The Gold Standard
• Greenhouse Gas Protocol
• ISOlogy Hub
• Blackmores
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[01:43] The five steps before you go down the route of Offsetting.

[02:12] Why Offsetting is a controversial topic.

[03:03] How Offsetting works in PAS 2060.

[03:41] What Offsetting is and how Carbon Credits work.

[04:59] Credible Offsetting schemes in the UK.

[07:58] Key considerations you need to consider when buying a Carbon Offset.

[10:48] How PAS 2060 helps companies prove they really are carbon neutral.

[12:20] How Carbonologists help their clients know which schemes meet the requirements of PAS 2060 and which don’t.

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact us!

If you’d like to book a free consultation with our Carbonologist, David Algar, feel free to book a slot Here.

And lastly, don’t forget to grab your ‘Getting Started with Carbonology’ Checklist here:

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud

This episode is Part 5 of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

This time, our resident Carbonologist David Algar is talking through the fifth step of the Carbonology process, ‘Re-quantify’.

David explains why it’s important to recalculate your emissions after measures have been put in place from the Reduce stage, what to do if you’re not hitting your targets, and how the ‘Re-quantification’ stage can help your public image.

You’ll learn

• What ‘Re-quantification’ is.
• Why ‘Re-quantification’ is so important.
• Ways to identify how specific areas of your business have performed.
• What to do if you’re not hitting targets.
• How to follow a carbon reduction plan while in a state of growth.
• How the ‘Re-quantification’ stage can help your public image.

Resources

• isology Hub
• Blackmores
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[01:05] The seven steps of carbonology.

[01:32] Why it’s so important to ‘re-quantify’.

[02:31] The real purpose of the ‘re-quantification’ stage.

[05:16] How to feel if you’re not hitting your targets.

[05:50] The importance of consistency, accuracy, and transparency in ISO 14064 and PAS 2060.

[07:20] How to follow a carbon reduction plan while in a state of growth.

[08:34] The key outcomes and deliverables in your ‘Re-quantification’ stage.

[09:30] Our free carbon neutral checklist.

Download your free Carbonology Checklist here:

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact us!

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

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This episode is Part 4 of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

This time, our resident Carbonologist David Algar is talking through the fourth step of the Carbonology process, ‘Reduce’.

David explains how we can put our Carbon Reduction Plan into action so we can see clear tangible results in our reductions, and the benefits this brings to organisations and their employees.

You’ll learn

• How the ‘Reduce’ phase in the Carbonology process works.
• How to monitor how successful your initiatives are.
• The importance of communicating your reduction plan to your staff.
• How to get your staff excited about your carbon reduction plan.
• The value of externally communicating your commitment to carbon reduction.
• How having a sustainability group can help your business.

Resources

• Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
• isology Hub
• Blackmores
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[03:05] The ‘reduce’ phase of the Carbonology process.

[04:36] The need to make your staff aware of your carbon reduction plan.

[05:13] How to best manage communications with staff around carbon reductions.

[06:36] How a carbon reduction plan can be beneficial for an organisation and their staff.

[07:26] How to best monitor the success of your initiatives and the benefits this has.

[11:11] The benefits of reducing your carbon footprint rather than offsetting it.

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact us!

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

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This episode is Part 3 of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

Our resident Carbonologist David Algar is back to talk through the third step of the Carbonology process, Commitment.

David explains how organisations can identify the type of targets to put in place, the importance of having a launch and communications plan, and shares some popular ways organisations can reduce their carbon emissions.

You’ll learn

• How organisations can set targets for their Carbon Neutrality.
• Why it’s important to make a formal commitment.
• Popular ways organisations reduce their carbon emissions.
• The benefits of changing your vehicles from diesel to electric.
• Some of the incentives to achieve emission reductions.
• The importance of having your staff involved with your plan.

Resources

• isology Hub
• Blackmores
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[02:19] How to begin the commitment stage of Carbonology.

[04:00] Why organisations need a plan to achieve PAS 2060.

[05:27] Popular ways organisations can reduce their carbon emissions.

[06:40] The approach you need to take when setting targets.

[09:30] Typical targets organisations can put in place.

[11:31] The importance of having a launch and communications plan.

[12:06] The typical outcomes and deliverables organisations will be provided.

[13:31] The expectation of businesses to have a carbon footprint management plan.

[14:19] The importance of having your staff involved with your plan.

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact us!

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

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This episode is the second of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

We’re joined by our resident Carbonologist David Algar to talk through the second step of the Carbonology process, Quantify.

What does the Quantify Step entail?

Calculating your emissions : This will be carried out for Scope 1 2 and 3 emissions.

• Scope 1 refers to sources you own, and are direct emissions from combustion or fugitive emissions from systems that contain GHGs, so gases that have escaped from somewhere they shouldn’t have such as an AC system.
• Scope 2 are emissions from imported energy, this refers to electricity for most organisations but can also include steam, heating and cooling. For ISO 14064 and PAS 2060 you’ll need to quantify 100% of the Scope 1 and 2 emissions within boundaries
• Scope 3 refers to all other indirect emissions from sources you don’t own or necessarily have control over. For example business travel in vehicles your staff own. Scope 3 makes up the majority of emissions for most organisations and is generally more complex to gather data for.

What information do you need to quantify your emissions?

You’ll need to collect and process data. This can be:

• Activity or financial data on a specific source. Common examples include utilities bills, meter readings and expense reports for business travel or fright
• Interviews and surveys. For instance a survey to better understand how staff commute to work, or the proportion of staff that work from home.

Why is Transparency so important?

There are 6 key principles of ISO 14064, but one David is particularly mindful of is Transparency.

• Ultimately your work will be made publicly available, and not everyone may agree with your methods, but you’ll need to record all estimates, assumptions, exclusions, and uncertainties associated with your methods. As well as generally being good practice, being transparent allows the end user of the work you produce to make informed decisions with a reasonable degree of confidence.

So what’s the purpose of quantification?

As well as giving you a total footprint for a specific time period, calculating your carbon footprint will enable you to do a few things:

• Firstly you’ll be able to see what are the most emission-intense areas of your organisation, i.e. where the emissions are coming from, whether this is a specific location, or activity or even department

• Secondly, by using this information you will be able to prioritise the areas that need to have their emissions reduced. This will form the basis of your Carbon Footprint Management Plan which we will go into more detail on in the next few episodes.

What are the Outcome and Deliverables?

One outcome of this exercise is a GHG Inventory. This is a requirement of ISO 14064 and put simply, is a big list of categorised emission sources, and the specific GHGs they produce. Here you’ll also list all emission conversion factors you used to turn activity data into tonnes of specific GHGs.

Another useful outcome is that you’ll be able to instantly and credibly respond to any tenders that require you present green credentials. As we’ve mentioned in previous podcasts, in the UK it is now a requirement for most large public sector contracts for the tendering organisation to outline its emissions.

Being able to easily present your carbon footprint to a potential tender could help in winning new business, particularly if you’ve completed this in line with an international recognised standard

Join us next week as we move onto the next step, Commit.

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact us!

David Algar is also available for a free Carbonology consultation until the end of March – Book your slot Here

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

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This episode is the first of our 7-part mini-series explaining our Carbonology service, a 7 step methodology to help companies become Carbon Neutral.

We’re joined by our resident Carbonologist David Algar to talk through the first step of the Carbonology process, Define.

David explains why the define stage is so important, what it entails, and how it works.

You’ll learn

• The seven steps in Carbonology.
• The importance of defining your carbon output.
• How to get a better understanding of your emissions.
• The recommended approach to define the subject and boundaries.
• How to write the introduction for your QES.
• How to become carbon neutral.

Resources

• isology Hub
• Blackmores
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[02:38] What the seven steps of Carbonology are.

[03:08] The first step to becoming carbon neutral.

[03:52] How the define stage in Carbonology works.

[04:42] What Carbonology boundaries in an organisation may look like.

[06:20] The importance of identifying the people involved with Carbonology work.

[07:00] The type of people that are normally involved with managing the Carbonology standards in a business.

[08:25] How organisations can determine the selection of the subject.

[09:49] Why it’s important to clearly define the subject and your boundaries.

[10:33] The recommended approach to define the subject and boundaries.

[12:17] The outcomes and deliverables that are provided through the define stage.

[13:35] Who the Qualifying Explanatory Statement has to be shared with.

If you need assistance with implementing ISO 14064, PAS 2060, or another standard – Contact us!

David Algar is also available for a free Carbonology consultation until the end of March – Book your slot Here

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud

One of the first steps towards becoming more sustainable is knowing where you currently stand in terms of your emissions. Calculating this may seem like a mammoth task, especially if you have multiple sites or assets such as company vehicles to keep track of.

David Algar joins Mel today to discuss how to calculate your Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, starting from Establishing boundaries through to number crunching and quantification.

What is the first step when embarking on quantifying your GHG emissions?

• One of the first steps is getting leadership commitment – This allows for quicker decision making and the allocation of roles and responsibilities, which really helps with the data collection
• Once you have this leadership commitment, the next steps is to start establishing boundaries.

So how do you define your boundaries?

• There are 2 ways you define your boundaries as specified in ISO 14064-1:
• The first are your organisational boundaries, you’ll need to outline which facilities are included within the quantification. It is not as simple as just saying ‘everything’, you’ll need to specify which sites, buildings, factories etc
• You can define your organisational boundaries via the control approach, so what facilities do you have financial or operation control over? Or the equity share approach, where you account for your portion of emissions and removals from facilities
• The next step is defining your reporting boundaries. This refers to activities and specific sources of GHGs.
• Emission sources are split up into 3 categories; Scope 1 – direct emissions from combustion, or leaks, normally at sources you own , Scope 2 – indirect emissions from imported energy, and Scope 3 – all other indirect emissions, these will be from sources you don’t necessarily own or have much control over such as staff commuting, supply chains or emissions from the use of products you manufacture
• Depending on your organisation, Scope 3 will account for somewhere between 60-80% of your total emissions.

How would you recommend going about collecting to data?

• ISO 14064-1 wants you to have primary data, i.e. data you have collected yourself.
• Some of the most common sources of the information you’ll need to quantify your emissions include, utilities bills, expense claim, meter readings.  
• What some organisations are doing is sending out simple surveys to staff to gather information on commuting habits or the mix of home and office working.
• In the real world all the information you need isn’t going to be available, or at least it won’t be available in the way you would like.
• it’s important to have someone dedicated managing data collection as this may involve multiple sites or international locations.
• Ideally, you’d start setting a framework to use when going forward and to make sure you can collect the relevant data each year.

Selecting a base year

• If this is the first time you have quantified your emissions, it will automatically become your base year.
• This will be the year you compare future emissions against, and track reductions against, whether they are absolute, or intensity based, such as tonnes of CO2e per employee or product sold
• You may have to re-visit your base year calculations if new data or more accurate methods arise. A base year review may also be required if there has been a change in organisational boundaries due to a merger or acquisition.

The Number Crunching

• At the end of the process, we want to see our levels of emissions for each of the Kyoto gases, this will allow us to see emissions as tonnes of CO2 equivalent when each gases’ global warming potential has been taken into account.
• Some gases can have global warming potentials 200 times or 1,000 times or even over 20,000 times stronger than CO2 on its own, hence why even the smallest leak of can be important, say, from an air conditioning system.
• We calculate emission from specific sources by using conversion factors.
• In the UK we are very lucky to have emission conversion factors published publicly by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy every year going back to 2002
• Other countries release conversion factors too, so if you have sites round the world, you should be able to find factors that can be applied. This may involve converting some units though.
• The data isn’t always going to be available in the ideal format, so you’ll need to spend a bit of time on Google identifying rates for specific areas and years if you don’t have anything else to go on.
• Liaising with landlords and facilities management is always a good idea, not only to collect data, but to help with implementing initiatives that can reduce emissions in the future  

Estimates, Assumptions, Uncertainties and Transparency

• You’re going to have to make some assumptions as you go.
• In line with ISO 14064-1 you’ll need to be as accurate as possible even if this means someone going through individual lines of expenses to estimate flight distances based on ticket costs or coming up with a system to represent your supply chain.
• Another important aspect of ISO 14064-1 is transparency. The best way to manage this is to simply make all your calculations visible, this way they can be reviewed and sense-checked but others.
• For each emission source you’ll also need to assign it a level of uncertainty. For instance, expense claims are usually highly accurate as they show mileage from one location to another, and sometimes even record the specific vehicle, you could say this has an uncertainty of 2-5% for instance.
• At the other end of the scale calculating the emission from the life cycle of your products has a high degree of uncertainty as you don’t know how a customer will use it, how long it will last, how it will be disposed of or if it will even be used at all. This could have an uncertainty of 30-40% for instance
• A positive outcome of managing all these uncertainties is that you will have a framework going forward for calculating specific sources.

Managing your Emissions Going Forward – Applications of Quantification

• Ironically it is often the biggest emission sources that businesses have the smallest amount of control over, but there will usually be some action that can be taken to reduce them.
• Quantifying emissions is also one the first, and arguably the most essential steps towards achieving carbon neutrality, as you can’t get very far without knowing your emissions.
• PAS 2060 is the standard we use at Blackmores as part of our Carbonology service to help businesses achieve carbon neutrality, this is supported by quantifying emissions in line with the ISO 14064 methodologies we’ve mentioned In previous podcasts.
• Developing and implementing a carbon reduction plan to reduce emissions over subsequent reporting periods is another application of your GHG quantification and is an important part of working towards carbon neutrality.

Further resources:

Free Webinar – Targeting Carbon and Supporting Net Zero – hosted by Alcumus, David Algar will feature as a guest to help you understand your Carbon Footprint and provide a roadmap towards Carbon Neutrality. Register Here.

We also have more information about our Carbonology service available Here.

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help, and we read each one.

Today, we’re joined by our resident Carbonologist David Algar to discuss SECR.

What is SECR?

SECR stands for Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting, it stemmed from The Companies Act (2006) which was updated in 2013 to require quoted companies to report annual emissions in their directors’ report.

In 2018, the regulations were updated and an additional disclosure requirement for quoted companies was brought in. They now require energy use and associated GHG emissions to be reported by quoted companies, as well as by large, limited liability partnerships (LLPs).

Why was it introduced?

To increase awareness of a business’ energy use and emissions and to encourage the introduction of initiatives to reduce energy usage.

To provide organisations with the relevant data to make informed decisions.

To help increase visibility to key decision makers who may not have been aware of how much carbon their organisation is producing.

Provides transparency on an organisation’s emissions and energy use to external stakeholders.

Is it applicable to you?

SECR reporting is designed to apply to all quoted companies in the UK, as well as unquoted companies and LLPs defined as ‘large’ under the Companies Act 2006.

To be defined as ‘large’ under the Companies Act and therefore qualify for SECR reporting they must meet 2 or more of the following criteria:

• Have a turnover of £36m or more.
• Have a balance sheet of £18m or more.
• Have 250 or more employees.

Who does it not apply to?

Low energy users, those using less than 40MWh per year.

If disclosing energy use data could inadvertently reveal sensitive information about your business, or seriously detrimental to the interests of your business.

Not all public bodies are required to report.

If your data would not be practical to obtain.

What needs to be included?

This is where it gets slightly more complex as this is where reporting guidelines specify what you must report depending on if you are a quoted company compared to a large unquoted or LLP.

Similarities (what everyone needs to report):

• Their energy use in kWh and GHG emissions in tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
• Scope 1 and scope 2 emissions you are responsible for and a subset of scope 3 emissions relating to transport.
• Methodologies, at least one intensity ratio and finally, everyone must report on energy efficiency improvements.

Differences:

• A key difference between quoted companies and the other two types is that quoted companies must reference their global Scope 1 and 2 emissions they are responsible for, and what proportion of their emissions comes from international sources.
• For unquoted companies and LLPs there is more of a focus on Scope 3 emissions. You will need to report on the energy and emissions associated with Scope 3 transport. This mainly refers to leased road vehicles and vehicles staff own but use for business purposes (grey fleet), but also covers larger vehicles such as ships, planes and trains if you have directly paid for the fuel yourself.

What are the benefits for your organisation?

You would have quantified a significant proportion of your emissions, which paints a good picture of where your largest emission sources are from.

You would have just taken one of the first steps towards achieving carbon neutrality.

SECR also helps provide greater transparency for investors and other stakeholders.

It also supports other reporting such as ESOS and the new requirement for businesses looking to obtain large government contracts to have a carbon reduction plan in place.

How can Blackmores help?

By quantifying your emissions for your reporting period, in the long term we can help quantify any remaining emissions that are not referred to in SECR, specifically any remaining Scope 3s

We can also help provide clarity on the definitions of each scope and the subcategories within them.

We have various templates that we have created and refined to help simplify the process.

We can produce the SECR report, meeting all the requirements of UK Environmental Reporting Guidance, and as well as the main SECR report, we can produce the summary of your Director’s Report.

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help, and we read each one.

If you’d like further information on how we can help you with Carbon verification, SECR or Carbon Neutrality, check out our Carbonology Service.  

Today, we’re joined by our resident Carbonologist David Algar to discuss the seven vital steps to Carbonology.

If you’re looking for a sustainability roadmap for your business and looking to address the climate emergency while also meeting your stakeholders needs you’re in the right place.

Over the last 2 episodes, Carbonoloigst David Algar and Mel have been going through ISO 14064 the Carbon Verification Standard and PAS 2060 the Carbon Neutrality Standard.

Today, David and Mel will be explaining how you can meet the requirements of both standards, gain verification, and demonstrate your business as carbon neutral.

That’s all going to be based on our game-changing route to sustainability, Carbonology.

What makes Carbonolgy unique is rather than paying lip service to the climate change emergency, Carbonolgy provides a proven methodology for sustainable success, allowing businesses to become carbon neutral and to achieve ISO standards successfully.

You’ll learn

• The seven steps of carbonology.
• How to achieve carbon neutrality.
• Why it’s cheaper to reduce your emissions rather than offset them.
• The importance of re-quantifying carbon emissions.
• How to prove you’ve offset your emissions.
• How becoming carbon neutral can benefit your shareholders.

Resources

• Carbonology

In this episode, we talk about:

[03:12] The seven steps of Carbonology to achieve carbon neutrality.

[7:54] The different options there are to verify that you are carbon neutral.

[9:07] The different areas you need to define when starting off in your Carbonology journey.

[11:45] How to quantify the emissions embedded in different products that you sell.

[14:22] What’s included in a Carbon Footprint Management Plan.

[16:50] The importance of including working from home in your scope 3 emissions.

[17:57] How long a reduction period last and what it involves.

[19:27] The benefits of re-quantification and how it works.

[21:14] How offsetting works as part of Carbonology.

[23:31] How making a declaration of achievement of neutrality works.

If you’d like a quote for Carbonology – Contact us!

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud

Today, we’re joined by our resident Carbonologist David Algar who shares with us everything he knows about the Carbon Neutrality Standard PAS 2060.

Customers are demanding more environmentally friendly products and services, and to remain competitive organizations need to reduce their emissions and improve their environmental records.

Having a sustainability roadmap is critical to both government and industry now and in the future.

When implementing effective climate change mitigation measures the ability to differentiate between real and false claims of carbon neutrality is absolutely critical.

If you’re looking for a credible roadmap for your sustainability journey PAS 2060 can help you cut through the cynicism and doubt and maintain trust in your ethics to manage and reduce your greenhouse gas emissions.

You’ll learn

• How to make a positive impact on the environment.
• Why a company can never be net carbon zero.
• What PAS 2060 consists of and how it helps businesses quantify and reduce emissions.
• How to build credibility and confidence with your shareholders.
• What Carbonology is and how it can help businesses become carbon neutral.
• Why it’s so important to quantify your emissions before reducing them.

Resources

• Blackmores – PAS 2060
• Carbonologyhub

In this episode, we talk about:

[02:13] What PAS 2060 is and how it assists companies to become carbon neutral.

[2:55] The difference between being ‘net carbon zero’ and ‘carbon neutrality’.

[3:48] The importance of quantifying and reducing your emissions.

[4:18] What carbon offsetting is and how it works.

[6:54] The main benefits for a business in adopting PAS 2060.

[7:46] What a carbon footprint management plan is and how it can help save money.

[8:50] The benefits of validating your carbon neutrality.

[10:20] How Carbonology can help businesses become carbon neutral.

If you need assistance with implementing PAS 2060 – Contact us!

We’d love to hear your views and comments about the ISO Show, here’s how:

• Share the ISO Show on Twitter or Linkedin
• Leave an honest review on iTunes or Soundcloud. Your ratings and reviews really help and we read each one.

Subscribe to keep up-to-date with our latest episodes:

Stitcher | Spotify | YouTube |iTunes | Soundcloud

If businesses aren’t talking about COVID-19, they are discussing how to become carbon neutral.

To show their commitment to protecting the environment, companies are often claiming to be carbon neutral, but the issue is…where is the actual proof? Where is the credible framework that demonstrates carbon verification?

Today we’re excited to share how to get started with introducing ISO 14064 (the carbon footprint verification standard). So, if you’re looking for a sustainability roadmap for your business and are wondering where to begin, then you’re in luck as we’re going to be providing you with information on that over the next couple of podcasts! We’re delighted to be joined by David Algar, our resident Carbonologist at Blackmores, over the next few podcasts as he’s going to share with you information about the international standards that everybody’s talking about when it comes to demonstrating your carbon neutrality. This includes ISO 14064 for carbon footprint verification and PAS 2060 on carbon neutrality.

So, in this episode, let’s kick off with ISO 14064 and find out what’s it all about!

What you’ll learn:

• What is ISO 14064?
• What are upstream and downstream emissions?
• Certification methods
• Benefits of ISO 14064
• How Carbonology helps meet ISO 14064 requirements

ISO 14064 is a specification with guidance at the organisational level for the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and their removals. So, essentially, ISO 14064 is a standard for an organisation of any type, size, quantity, or location globally to quantify its emissions of greenhouse gases, with the end product of this being the creation of a greenhouse gas inventory.

Now, let’s find out where we would begin with ISO 14064…

In ISO 14064, the standard begins with defining  the organisational boundaries and the reporting boundaries. So essentially what you’re covering in your greenhouse gas inventory and what the reporting boundaries are. This will also include any exclusions you decide to make i.e. elements of your business that will not be have their associated GHGs quantified.

An organisation embarking on its sustainability roadmap could carve out part of the business. So, for example by year one the UK operations, and then have a roadmap in place so that they include other locations and services as time goes on.

David expands on the greenhouse gas inventory by highlighting that this is where you would document all your emission sources. So, they are divided up into scope one, scope two, and scope three sources. Scope one is the direct ones, so for example stationary or mobile combustion, or anything your organisation directly burns. Then it goes into scope two, which is your purchased energy (the electricity, steam, heating and cooling that you would use in the building that you own or lease). Finally going into scope three can be a bit more complicated. This would be your other indirect sources, upstream and downstream. For example, if you are a manufacturing company, the upstream emissions would be the emissions associated with activities, for example, before your products are delivered to your manufacturing or warehouse. So that would include the extraction of the raw materials, the processing, packaging, and then the transport and distribution. The upstream emissions associated with a vehicle, for example, include putting it in a cargo ship and shipping it across the world. So, once  it leaves your warehouse or plant, it would then go off to the customer. This is where you are looking at the downstream emissions, including emissions associated with the product’s use

The greenhouse gas inventory does split the scopes up for you, so you don’t have to worry about memorising every single little part of the scopes! It is very useful in that aspect and it lays it out in a list for you.

Let’s take a quick dive into the vertification options for ISO 14064…

If you do decide to go for a third-party vertification from a certification board, the chances are that they’re going to ask you questions on why you decided to include and exclude certain things within your greenhouse gas inventories. For example, certain operations in your business or why you have made certain exclusions. Another key element of producing greenhouse gas inventories is that you must use emission factors. These are how you quantify and convert, for example kilowatts, into tonnes of Co² equivalent. So, the certification body may ask you why you’ve chosen to use a certain metric. That’s why it would always be a very good idea to document these choices, as you may be asked about them. So, in essence, this provides complete transparency on your carbon emissions across the organisation because you’ve justified the reason for including or excluding them.

Now, moving on to some of the benefits of ISO 14064…

Because it’s an ISO standard and internationally recognised, it provides a reliable and proven framework for quantifying your emissions. So as a result of this, this helps identify individual sources of emissions and enables you to identify the biggest source of emissions, energy usage, and vehicle usage. Therefore, you can use it to identify areas for improvement by setting targets. However, the result of going down this road is that once you’ve implemented those improvements, it can actually save you costs in many instances, for instance through lower energy usage.

Another benefit is that it helps demonstrate your public commitment to environmental protection. This is excellent for your corporate image and CSR. Combined with third-party verification, it really does help show you are committed to environmental protection, and you’re not just pursuing this activity for greenwashing purposes.

It can also be a tendering requirement for a lot of new businesses as it can support a lot of governmental requirements. So, it can be a framework to help you support any mandatory reporting of emissions, such as the SECR (Streamline Energy and Carbon Reporting) and ESOS (Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme) which are requirements essentially based on quantifying emissions and energy usage. So, if you’ve implemented ISO 14064, you’ve (almost) already built that framework to help you with the data collection and data presentation that you’ll need for the SECR and ESOS reporting.

One thing which makes ISO 14064 very different from any of the ISO standards that we have implemented over the last 15 years at Blackmores is the fact that you don’t actually get certification to this standard. It’s classed as a verification, which has options for self-verification and third-party verification.

There are three main tiers to it, let’s find out what they are.

The first tier is the self-verification method, where you essentially pour over the data yourself and decide internally within your company that you’re happy to publish this publicly. Although, this is slightly less credible because your company is essentially verifying itself. The second level to that is a second-party verification, where you get an external body (such as Blackmores) to go over the data and essentially audit you on it. But what is generally regarded as the most credible is a third-party certification, the third tier. This would be done through a UKAS accredited certification body (such as BSI, or NQA). This method demonstrates confidence to all your stakeholders that the verification has been done properly because an independent third party has approved it.

Unlike certificates to management system standards like ISO 14001 (where they’re valid for three years). This is just valid for the period that you’ve actually defined within the scope. So, that could be a period of 12 months, then you would have to go through the re-verification process.

We do have a podcast coming up on Carbonology which focuses on the process to meet the requirements of ISO 14064 and PAS 2060 to be carbon neutral…so, let’s get a sneak peek and find out how Carbonology might help with meeting the requirements of ISO 14064.

Carbonology is based on a seven-step process to help an organisation become carbon neutral. The first step of Carbonology is the Quantify stage. This is where ISO 14064 comes in because this is where you would essentially quantify and document all your greenhouse gas emission sources for scope one, two, and three. So, essentially, ISO 14064 really does form the bedrock of the Carbonology service.

That’s it for today, watch out for our future blogs as we’ll be joining David on the next podcast where we’ll be talking all about the next stage in your journey to becoming carbon neutral.

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