Offset Carbon Emissions, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Melbourne

A Carbon Footprint analysis is the first and most important step an organisation can take in the process of reducing its carbon foot-print. The information collected during the preparation of a GHG inventory will assist your business in understanding its risks and liabilities, engage in policy development for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and/or voluntary carbon market and to enable a structured approach to the reduction of carbon emissions.

While current and impending legislation and regulations are unlikely to directly create any positive obligations on most SME’s in Australia to disclose or reduce their emissions, they will provide opportunities for organisations that are well prepared. A well-designed and maintained corporate GHG inventory can serve several business goals, including: managing GHG risks and identifying reduction opportunities, public reporting and participation in voluntary GHG programs, participating in mandatory reporting programs, participating in GHG markets and recognition for early voluntary action.

Corio Waste Management provides a comprehensive carbon accounting, auditing and management services, including:

• Carbon Footprint Analysis

  Corio Waste Management will develop your GHG inventory in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol) developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in 2004 (2004). The GHG Protocol is used and endorsed by many organisations including the Global Reporting Initiative, Carbon Disclosure Project, International Standard Organisation, EU Emissions Trading Scheme, and Chicago Climate Exchange. The Protocol provides guidance on what emissions sources to include, how to categorise to ensure transparency and avoid double counting, and how to quantify.
  A GHG Inventory report will outline: (1) Activity Data Management: how Corio Waste Management collected and managed your activity data (e.g. kWh consumed, kilometres travelled on flights, etc.); (2) activity data and CO2?e emissions for all of your organisations facilities; (3) Quantification Method: the methods used to calculate emissions (including computing final activity data and applying emissions factors to final activity data); and (4) Future Tasks: recommended annual tasks and steps to improve the inventory of each item in future years.

• Carbon Management

  A Carbon Management Plan (CMP) outlines the specific steps that your organisation can undertake as part of its annual greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory. It should reflect the actions taken in the preparation of your baseline GHG inventory and serve as an internal guide for future inventories. Corio Waste Management can then update the inventory annually to reflect any changes in inventory boundaries, data management, or methodology. The CMP will adopt the step?by?step decision?making framework, the Carbon Management Principles (see below) developed by the EPA Victoria. Under these Principles, an organisation should measure their impacts, then set an objective, implement avoidance and reduction strategies, and finally look at offsetting residual emissions.

  
  

  

• External Verification and Assurance of GHG Inventories

  Verification of a GHG inventory involves an assessment of the risk of material discrepancy of each component of the GHG information collection and reporting process. Corio Waste Management's verification process involves two key steps:

  1. An evaluation of whether the GHG accounting and reporting methodology (e.g., Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, ISO AS ISO 14064.1–2006 Greenhouse gases - Part 3: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals) has been correctly implemented.
  2. Identification of any material discrepancies.
     Corio Waste Management has developed its GHG verification methodology based on ISO 14064.3:2006 Greenhouse gases - Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions.
     A critical step in the provision of this service is defining the scope, level and objective of the verification and assurance process. The organisation seeking verification of its GHG inventory must consider issues such as which information is to be included in the verification (e.g., head office consolidation only or information from all sites), the level of scrutiny to which selected data will be subjected (e.g., desk top review or on-site review), and the intended use of the results of the verification. The materiality threshold is another key consideration in the scope of work. A clearly defined scope of work is also important for external stakeholders to be able to make informed and appropriate decisions.