Cooperation on greenhouse gas accounting and verification

Three organisations have announced that they will work together to promote their greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting standards.

ISO (International Organization for Standardization), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which they have agreed to jointly promote the ISO 14064 standards and the WRI and WBCSD GHG Protocol standards.

The move is in response to concerns among businesses and GHG program designers that the two standards might not be consistent and mutually supportive. In fact, for corporate accounting, requirements and guidance contained in ISO and GHG Protocol standards are consistent and they are designed so that they can be used in a complementary manner.

“We are positive that closer collaboration between our three international organisations will increase convergence as well as institutional and corporate confidence in developing and maintaining credible climate change and GHG emissions credits trading programs,” said Alan Bryden, ISO secretary-general.

Jonathan Lash, president of WRI, said, “Global warming is the defining problem of our time. Consistent measurement standards for GHG emissions are essential to effective policies to encourage businesses to replace polluting technologies with more efficient low carbon alternatives.”

Björn Stigson, WBCSD president, added, “This is a clear indication of our formal commitment to work towards achieving consistency in order to create greater confidence among corporate sustainability managers and GHG accountants, and support the development of credible carbon markets.”

By working together, the three organisations will be better able to deal with technical issues, promote the standardised tools, and raise awareness through more concentrated education, training and capacity building.