What is Carbon Footprint?

What is carbon footprint?

Carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, event, product or person. Greenhouse gases are gases, both natural and anthropogenic, in the atmosphere that absorb (take in) and emit (give out) radiation from the Sun (better known as sunlight).

Water vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are both naturally occurring and man-made greenhouse gases. However, others like chlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) are exclusively created from human activities. In the 19th century, scientists realized that gases in the atmosphere cause a “greenhouse effect” which affects the planet’s temperature.

The greenhouse effect

The process of greenhouse effect can be described in two steps. First, greenhouse gases let the visible and ultraviolet light in sunlight to pass through Earth's atmosphere unimpeded, and reach the Earth's surface. Then, when light strikes the Earth's surface and is reflected back to the atmosphere as infrared energy (or heat), the greenhouse gases absorb this energy and warm the planet.

The role of GHG

The majority of scientists have agreed that emission of greenhouse gases, mostly carbon dioxide, is the main cause of climate changes. Increasing the concentration of these gases, which are produced by human activities, in the atmosphere is intensifying the natural greenhouse.

In fact, any human activity contributes to production of carbon dioxide, even breathing. But this amount is insignificant compared to the amount of emissions arising from industrial processes. Combustion of fossil fuels such as coal, petroleum, natural gas etc. is the primary source of GHG emissions. For instance, in the United States, more than 90% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels. This includes electricity, transportation, industrial energy use, agriculture, land use and forestry, etc.

Global GHG emissions have grown noticeably during the last decade. China is the world’s top emitter, followed by the United States, the European Union, India and Indonesia.

Atmospheric GHG concentrations will continue to increase unless actions to reduce carbon emission are taken. Increased concentration of these gases leads to climatic changes, such as:

• Increased average global temperature
• Influence the patterns and amounts of precipitation
• Reduce ice and snow
• Raise sea level
• Increase acidity of the oceans

National regulations and international standards

Responding to climate changes, many developed countries worldwide have set national targets to limit and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in the earth’s atmosphere. In addition, several international standards have been developed to provide guidance in assessment, monitoring, reporting and verification of GHG emissions.

to quantify their corporate greenhouse gas emissions. For this purpose, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have worked together and introduced the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, a tool to help organizations and governments in accounting and reporting emissions, by calculating their carbon footprint.

Furthermore, the impact of carbon dioxide on the environment has stimulated the development of voluntary standards worldwide for the assessment and communication of product carbon footprints as well. This includes the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, calculated as carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), accumulated during the full life cycle of a product, from production of the raw materials to manufacturing, delivery, use of the product at home and finally disposal or recycling.

Besides ISO 14001, which is one of world’s most recognized standards for environmental management system, International Organization for Standardization has been working for a while on many standards addressing climate change.

ISO 14064 – Part 1 and 2 provide requirements and guidance for quantification, monitoring and reporting activities of greenhouse gas emissions. However, Part 3 specifies requirements and provides guidance for those conducting validation and verification of GHG assertions.

ISO 14065 provides guidance for bodies that undertake validation or verification of greenhouse gas assertions.

ISO 14066 specifies competency requirements for greenhouse gas validation teams and verification teams.

ISO/TS 14067 is a technical specification that provides guidance for the quantification and communication of the carbon footprint of a product, based on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 (international standards on life cycle assessment).

ISO/TR 14069 is a technical report that provides guidance relating to the quantification and reporting of, direct and indirect, greenhouse gas emissions of organizations.

Conclusion

Climate change arising from human activities has been identified as one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. An organization's initiatives toward reducing carbon emissions can be included in its environmental management systems (ISO 14001), energy management systems (ISO 50001), as well as in its social responsibility strategy (ISO 26000).

PECB (Professional Evaluation and Certification Board) is a personnel certification body for a wide range of professional standards. It offers ISO 14001, ISO 26000 and ISO 50001 training and certification services for professionals wanting to support an organization in the implementation of these management systems.

ISO Standards and Professional Trainings offered by PECB:

• Certified Lead Implementer (5 days)
• Certified Lead Auditor (5 days)
• Certified Foundation (2 days)
• ISO Introduction (1 day)

Narta Voca is the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Product Manager at PECB. She is in charge of developing and maintaining training courses related to HSE. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Narta at training@pecb.com.

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