BUSINESS STANDARDS
is the quarterly magazine of BSI Group, highlighting the vital role that standards play in today's business environment. Regular features include interviews with leading business figures, as well as news on the latest developments in management systems and standards.
Tracking your carbon footprint
29 May 2008
Topics: Carbon footprint, CFV, GHG, Environment, Carbon market
BSI Management Systems has launched a Carbon Footprint Verification (CFV) scheme in the UK for businesses seeking to verify their carbon footprint. The process of measuring, calculating and declaring your organization's direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) - your "carbon footprint" - requires an effective measurement and management system, but these are lacking in the marketplace.
Nonetheless, organizations have already begun voluntarily declaring their GHG emissions for reasons such as risk management, cost reduction, brand protection, and attracting socially responsible investment. Presenting an accurate carbon footprint is an important step to manage and reduce the impact of an organization's activities on climate change, but the tools to achieve this remain out of reach for many businesses.
The new BSI scheme includes training courses on best practice approaches to footprinting, to help organizations start on the right foot.
Verifying a carbon footprint is important to ensure it is robust enough to be declared, and to demonstrate an organization's positive approach to climate change.
BSI's CFV scheme is relevant to all types of organizations, including those reporting GHG emissions for mandatory schemes or that want to widen the scope to cover the whole organization, as well as those in industries that are due to be drawn into a mandatory GHG emissions scheme.
CFV reassures regulators, customers, employees, shareholders, potential investors, environmental groups, the media and even your competitors, of the integrity, completeness and transparency of the calculations. Any organization that is measuring or is establishing procedures to measure its carbon footprint could benefit from the CFV process.
BSI can verify carbon footprints in accordance with ISO 14065 and against the requirements of ISO 14064-1, as well as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development/World Resources Institute (WBCSD/WRI) GHG protocol.
For more information: www.bsigroup.com/may08cfv
Business Standards © 2007. Editorial produced by Caspian Publishing in association with the British Standards Institution. Editorial opinions expressed on are not necessarily those of BSI Group or Caspian Publishing. Neither Caspian Publishing nor BSI Group accept responsibility for advertising or editorial content, nor for that appearing on linked third-party websites. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden without written permission from BSI Group or Caspian Publishing.
The London European Partnership for Transport (LEPT) has engaged BSI British Standards to develop a new Publicly Available Specification - PAS 500 - for travel plans, designed to encourage more environmentally friendly transport.
Kitemark® for furniture removers
Ever had to move office? Ever struggled with your moving company and wished there was a better way to find a reliable supplier? There is an answer: BSI Product Services, working with the British Association of Removers (BAR), has published PAS 126:2008, covering commercial furniture removal activities.
Are you "Fit to supply" 2012 Olympic Games?
Business Link, the support and networking agency funded primarily by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), is working with BSI to help companies in their goal to win contracts for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Fast glass: Kitemark® for Norvik
Barnsley based Norvik PVCu Window Systems Ltd has achieved Kitemark certification to BS EN 1279 for its new range of double-glazed sealed units in record time, following assessment from BSI Product Services.
Sustainable events standard takes off
Manchester-based Out There Events is among the first companies to participate in a pilot programme, launched by BSI Management Systems in April, to assess the opportunities for creating official certification for BS 8901, the sustainable event management standard.
Question: Can you really measure customer satisfaction?
The simple answer is yes. Two years ago, BSI Management Systems took our customer- focused strategy to the next level by introducing a satisfaction survey for our clients.
Have a standards-related question for BSI or a comment on the website? We'll find the right person to answer.
