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CSA has facilitated development of three new ISO standards for GHG quantification: -ISO 14064-1. Part 1 specifies principles and requirements at the organization level for quantification and reporting of GHG emissions and removals, and includes requirements for the design, development, management, reporting and verification of an organization's GHG inventory. -ISO 14064-2. Part 2 specifies principles and requirements and provides guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of activities intended to cause GHG emission reductions or removal enhancements. -ISO 14064-3. Part 3 specifies principles and requirements and provides guidance for those conducting or managing the validation and/or verification of GHG assertions. This part of ISO 14064 may be applied to organizational or GHG project quantification, including GHG quantification, monitoring and reporting carried out in accordance with ISO 14064.1 or ISO 14064.2. For more information, please contact Michel Girard, Director, Ottawa Office, at / 613-565-5151, ext. 222, michel.girard@csa.ca. Click here to purchase the ISO 14064 standards

Climate change: it is everyone's business

There is an emerging consensus that large greenhouse gas reductions will be required over the coming years to meet the challenge of climate change and make adaptation manageable.

Many large industrial emitters are, or expect to be, regulated by governments to reduce their greenhouse gas (or GHG) emissions.

A significant proportion of these emissions, however, is produced by organizations that are unlikely to face government regulations any time soon. These organizations, operating in a wide range of sectors such as services, retail, small manufacturing, light industry, farming, forestry and transportation, have a very important role to play in the fight against climate change.

Managing your carbon footprint

CSA designed the GHG CleanStart™ Registry to help organizations manage their carbon footprint (or GHG footprint) and get recognition for their efforts.

Organizations seeking to manage their GHG footprint generally begin by measuring the GHG footprint of their operations. However, many actually start with more targeted objectives, such as making a conference or an event carbon neutral or investigating the GHG footprint of a specific product or service.

CSA can help your organization measure its GHG footprint. Once the measurement of a suitable GHG footprint has been completed, you are in a better position to decide on a commitment to improve your GHG footprint. Once the GHG footprint of an organization's operations, specific activities, product or service is completed, you can decide on what to do about it.

Organizations wishing to improve the GHG footprint of their operations generally begin by improving energy efficiency and reducing energy use through conservation measures, which may result in significant cost savings and reduced GHG emissions.

The second step is often steeper. For facilities in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, investments in green technologies to reduce process emissions may be required.

The third step requires investments in projects for generating green energy such as small hydro, solar, wind and geothermal energy to further reduce emissions generated through the combustion of fossil fuels

Finally, most organizations wishing to become carbon neutral must deal with residual emissions that cannot be easily avoided, such as emissions resulting from chemical or biological processes, or business travel. Purchasing carbon offsets from existing emission reduction projects is a straightforward way of offsetting unavoidable emissions.

CSA's GHG CleanStart™ Registry can help you showcase the GHG footprint of your organization, a specific activity, product or service. It reports on your commitment to improve your GHG footprint and recognizes your efforts, including achieving carbon neutrality.

Quantifying your emission reducing projects

CSA's GHG CleanProjects™ Registry provides a portal to report and showcase your project's greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions or removals. It offers a web-based public location that is accessible world-wide. The GHG CleanProjects™ Registry's focused mandate relates to the listing and delisting of greenhouse gas projects and resulting verified emission reductions and removals. Through its serialization engine, the GHG CleanProjects™ Registry's tags each tonne of verified emission reductions/removal with a unique serial number. Information displayed in the GHG CleanProjects™ Registry may be useful for corporate risk management, voluntary initiatives, GHG markets and regulatory reporting/compliance.

The GHG CleanProjects™ Registry's is based on ISO 14064-2 Part 2 Standard for greenhouse gas inventory and reporting which specifies principles, requirements and provides guidance at the project level for quantifying and reporting activities intended to cause GHG emission reductions or removal enhancements.

ISO 14064-3 specifies principles and requirements and provides guidance for those conducting or managing the validation and or verification of a project's GHG emission reductions/removals.

CSA's Other GHG Registries

CSA continues to offer the 2 following products since acquiring Canada's Climate Change Voluntary Challenge & Registry Inc. (VCR Inc.) on January 1, 2005:

Canadian GHG Challenge Registry ^© - Showcases organizations' actions which contribute towards the reduction of GHG emissions and allows for the comparison and publishing of best practices.

Canadian GHG Reductions Registry ^© - Provides a service for organizations that wish to have GHG reduction projects posted.