SOME EMISSION MEASUREMENT FRAMEWORKS

From a scientific - chemical structure - perspective the measurement of GHG emissions is relatively straightforward

The term “GHG” covers a number of different chemicals (there are 10 main GHG, the 3 most important being carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide). The levels of GHG in the atmosphere and other key reservoirs (see below) are able to be measured over time and more importantly, the amount of GHG - and particularly carbon dioxide, but also methane and nitrous oxide - that is generated by the production of goods and the provision of services, is known and so is able to be calculated.

The use of the term “CO2 e” (carbon dioxide equivalents) term enables the expression of the contribution of each GHG to climate change (i.e. their “relative planet heating” effects) in a common form.

Summing the contributions of emissions of individual GHG enables the overall GHG or “planet heating impact” produced as CO2e - by an organisation, community, country etc - over a period of time (e.g. annually) to be determined and guide emission reduction efforts.

However there may be a need to take into account GHG removals as well as emissions

The previous section explained how the overall - gross - atmospheric GHG emissions produced (e.g. by an organisation) can be determined. However, the carbon that is a part of carbon dioxide and methane, the two most important GHG can, under some circumstances, be removed from the atmosphere. This may need to be taken into consideration in order to understand the actual - net - environmental impact of emissions.

The “carbon cycle”

Increased levels of atmospheric GHG’s (e.g. from the burning of fossil fuels and other activities that produce carbon dioxide) are the cause of the climate change process that is running. On a planetary scale, fossil fuels are one of the “reservoirs” - natural bulk storage devices - in which carbon is stored and is part of the “carbon cycle”. This cycle comprises a large number of processes that encompass all organic material (including us) and sees the exchange of carbon - including carbon dioxide and methane - between a variety of storage forms (“reservoirs”) and which enables Earth to sustain life.

Of most relevance to human timespans, the atmosphere exchanges carbon with a number of other reservoirs; the terrestrial biosphere (i.e. ecosystems and living organisms), the oceans, and the lithosphere (including fossil fuels). A very simple example of the carbon cycle in operation is when a plant is eaten by an animal which in turn dies and the carbon from both the plant and the animal is returned to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, from where it is taken up by another plant and so on.

Some GHG can also be removed from the atmosphere as part of the carbon cycle. Steps or processes that remove GHG (typically CO2) and store it in another form are called “sinks” because they take up more carbon than they release. Formally, the IPCC defines a sink as “any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas, an aerosol or a precursor of a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.” Note: This very brief introduction to the subject only covers one natural sink and not carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCSU) processes.

Globally the most important sinks are the ocean and vegetation, though living and dead organisms and fossil fuels are also sinks, storing carbon in the form of hydrocarbons.

Carbon sinks in the context of emission measurement frameworks

Land and how it is used, including plantation forestry, has the potential to be an important tool in the mitigation of emissions in the short and medium term. This because forests and trees, while they are growing, (sequester) remove CO2 from the atmosphere as part of the photosynthesis process to make sugar that they use as an energy source to build wood, branches and roots. [The stored CO2 is subsequently released when the trees/forest die and decompose and potentially, burning of the wood.]

For this reason plantation forestry is an example of a carbon sink utilised by users of emission measurement frameworks. It is important to recognise that to be considered a sink in the context of emission measurement the reductions that result must be additional to those that would have happened anyway had the forest/trees not been planted.

It is also important to note that forestry - unless the trees grow if not in perpetuity, at least for very long time - is not a substitute for reducing emissions as the carbon they store is released at some rate (more slowly if converted into stable products such as wood for houses) when the trees die or are harvested.

Some examples of voluntary emission measurement frameworks: The GHG Protocol, ISO 14064 and the Ministry for the Environment documents “Measuring emissions: A guide for organisations”, as well as information about climate related financial disclosures and an information source of use to businesses.

Background

The manufacture of goods or the delivery of services generates GHG emissions. Depending on the production process(es) or service(s) involved, these emissions can occur at one or more stages over the lifecycle of the product or service.

The lifecycle begins with the initial production/manufacturing through (eg, its assembly, delivery, storage, use) to its disposal/recycling/repurposing at the end of its life. The process is complicated by the fact that the lifecycle can involve different businesses and service providers as well as the consumer(s) of the goods or service, so there may be many stakeholders who, collectively, need to assume responsibility for - and mitigate - the lifetime emissions created.

To manage this in an equitable manner, a number of classification frameworks have emerged. A feature that they have in common is that they separate the emissions that a business/service is considered responsible for, from the other emissions that are part of the product/service lifecycle but which occur before the business or service receives the product/service (‘downstream’) or after it is passed it on to the next stage(s) in its lifecycle - which may, but which will not always be, the consumer or end-user (‘upstream’).

In essence businesses and other organisations can be considered to “oversee” - or be responsible, in a GHG sense - for the emissions that occur at the one or more stages in the lifecycle of the product(s) or service(s) that they provide.

The GHG Protocol

The GHG Protocol was established in the 1990’s by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It provides a range of Protocol Standards that enable different types of organisations/entities to measure and report their GHG emissions. The Protocols are:

• The “GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard” for companies and other organisations to prepare a corporate-level GHG emissions inventory

• The “Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories” for cities

• The “GHG Protocol Mitigation Goal Standard” for designing mitigation goals

• The “Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard” that focuses on the impacts of value chain emissions

• The “GHG Protocol Policy and Action Standard” for countries and cities to estimate the greenhouse gas effect of policies and actions.

• The “Product Standard” to understand the full life cycle emissions of a product

• The “GHG Protocol for Project Accounting” for quantifying the greenhouse gas benefits of climate change mitigation projects

The GHG Protocol takes 6 greenhouse gases into account - carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro- and per fluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluoride - and classifies them into 3 Scopes, 2 of which (1 and 2) being mandatory, with 3 being voluntary:

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from controlled and company-owned resources e.g. on site combustion and including emissions from company vehicles.

• Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy from a utility provider. They include all GHG emissions released into the atmosphere from the consumption of purchased electricity, steam, cooling and heat.

• Scope 3: Indirect emissions that occur in the reporting company's upstream and downstream supply chain. These emissions are separated into 15 different categories, including business travel, waste disposal, and purchased goods and services.

The GHG protocol is free to use and does not involve any fees or costs for organizations to adopt its standards and tools. Their almost certainly will be some will be cost involved however - in areas such as the collection if the necessary data and other information and reporting and, potentially, in any verification processes undertaken.

ISO 14064

This standard was developed by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) for quantifying and reporting greenhouse gas emissions. It is available in three parts. [The focus on the information provided here is on Part 1 of the Standard.]

In contrast to the GHG Protocol (above), ISO 14064 is more generic

Part 1: [ISO 14064-1: 2018] “Greenhouse gases - Part 1: Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals.”

Part 2: [ISO 14064-2: 2019] “Greenhouse gases - Part 2: Specification with guidance at the project level for quantification, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emission reductions or removal enhancements”

Part 3: [ISO 14064-3: 2019] “Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the verification and validation of greenhouse gas statements”

[ISO has also published ISO 14065,”General principles and requirements for bodies validating and verifying environmental information”, ISO 140661, “Greenhouse gases – Competence requirements for greenhouse gas validation teams and verification teams” and ISO 14067, “Greenhouse gases – Carbon footprint of products – Requirements and guidelines for quantification”]

The ISO emissions classification differs from that of the GHG Protocol:

• Category 1: Direct emissions and removals from - stationary and mobile combustion, industrial processes, fugitive emissions and land use, land use change and forestry [LULUCF]. General equivalence to the GHG Protocol Scope 1 emissions.

• Category 2: Indirect emissions from imported energy. General equivalence to GHG Protocol Scope 2 emissions.

• Category 3: Indirect emissions from transportation.** (e.g. staff travel and accommodation, use of freight/courier services).

• Category 4: Indirect emissions from products used by an organisation **(e.g. T&D loses from electricity and gas, waste, water and wastewater, embodied emissions in construction materials, outsourced services/contractors including ICT/cloud computing0)

• Category 5: Indirect emissions from the use of products used by an organisation **(e.g. downstream leased assets)

• Category 6: Indirect emissions or removals from other sources. that cannot be reported in any other category

  ** Scope 3 emissions in the GHG Protocol

As noted in a 2006 article by Wintergreen and Delany however, “ISO 14064, International Standard for GHG Emissions Inventories and Verification” “… the key aspects for conducting a greenhouse inventory under ISO 14064 are generally consistent with, and in most cases are derived from, those identified by the broadly recognized Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. ….The difference between these two documents is that the GHG Protocol identifies, explains, and provides options for GHG inventory best practices, while ISO 14064 establishes minimum standards for compliance with these best practices. Though different in a few minor areas, the protocol and the ISO standard are complementary documents with ISO identifying what to do and The GHG Protocol explaining how to do it and organizations developing GHG inventories, especially those that will seek independent verification, can benefit from using both the standard and the protocol as references”

The ISO 14064 Standards are available for purchase from the Internal Standards Organisation.

The Ministry for the Environment (MfE) “Measuring emissions: A guide for organisations” documents.

MfE has published, in 2024 a suite of documents, including “Measuring emissions: A guide for organisations. 2024 detailed guide” under the title Measuring emissions: A guide for organisations designed “ … for Aotearoa New Zealand-based organisations wishing to voluntarily measure and report their greenhouse gas emissions.”

The documents include:

• An emission factors summary

• An interactive workbook

• An example GHG Report and GHG Inventory

  ‘The content in the “detailed guide” aligns with and endorses the use of the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard and ISO 14064-1:2018. It provides information about preparing a GHG inventory, emission factors and methods to apply them to activity data’.

Mandatory climate-related disclosures of risks and opportunities for some financial market participants

The Financial Sector (Climate-related Disclosures and Other Matters) Amendment was passed in 2021 to ensure that the effects of climate change are routinely considered in business, investment, lending, and insurance underwriting decisions. It requires certain financial organisations to make climate-related disclosures.

The goals of these mandatory climate-related disclosures are to:

• ensure that the effects of climate change are routinely considered in business, investment, lending and insurance underwriting decisions;

• help climate reporting entities better demonstrate responsibility and foresight in their consideration of climate issues; and

• lead to more efficient allocation of capital, and help smooth the transition to a more sustainable, low emissions economy.

Climate reporting entities report against standards issued by the External Reporting Board (XRB) which has published 3 Aotearoa New Zealand Climate Standards:

NZCS 1: Which provides a framework for entities to consider climate-related risks and opportunities.​

NZCS 2: Which outlines a limited number of adoption provisions.

NZCS 3: Which establishes principles and general requirements.

More information about these requirements and the entities that are impacted can be found at the MBIE and External Reporting Board (XRB) websites.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise information about the business advantages of measuring and reducing emissions

The MyNZTE site has useful article on measuring and cutting carbon emissions – where to start? including some examples of businesses who have taken this action.

International agreements for measuring and reporting emissions:

As noted by Stats NZ, in their website page on Approaches to measuring New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions “Greenhouse gas emissions statistics are produced using different approaches to meet different demands and applications, and to capture the breadth of factors driving emissions”

The most important set of data is the “Greenhouse Gas Inventory” produced by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) that countries use to report against reduction targets.

As noted by MfE “New Zealand's Greenhouse Gas Inventory is produced each year as part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s obligations under the Paris Agreement and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The Inventory is the official annual report of all human-induced emissions and removals of greenhouse gases in Aotearoa. It is the key source of evidence on Aotearoa New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions trends.

Aotearoa New Zealand’s Inventory data are used for both international and domestic reporting. It informs Aotearoa New Zealand’s policy recommendations on climate change and enables us to monitor progress towards our emissions reductions targets.”

The Stats NZ site also identified two further sets of GHG statistics that they produce:

• emissions on a production basis by economic residents

• emissions embodied in goods and services consumed by economic residents