GHG Registry & Reporting Programs
A GHG registry is a database that may be used for collecting, verifying, and tracking emissions data from individual facilities or an organization wide inventory. Registries of different types can serve a variety of objectives and inform a variety of decision makers.
In the U.S., the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requiring major emitters (facilities that emit 25,000+ metric tons of GHG) to submit annual reports beginning with “Year 2010″ data to be reported by March 2011. The rule (40 CFR 98) also applies to certain facilities based on the source category of GHGs and to suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial GHGs. To determine if mandatory reporting applies to your organization, read the EPA Mandatory Reporting of GHG Guidelines (PDF) here. This mandatory reporting is to support anticipated regulatory programs.
By contrast, voluntary corporate-wide registries, such as the Climate Registry, typically collect data at both the facility and corporate level. These registries serve the needs of investors, consumers, and public advocates interested in corporate-level environmental performance and sustainability practices.
There are other registries strictly intended to track offset credits from carbon trading activities. These registries include the Climate Action Reserve, Chicago Climate Exchange and the Voluntary Carbon Standard.
Some notable GHG Registries for voluntary, corporate-wide reporting include:
The Climate Registry – The Climate Registry is a nonprofit collaboration among North American states, provinces, territories and Native Sovereign Nations that sets consistent and transparent standards to calculate, verify and publicly report greenhouse gas emissions into a single registry. In addition to maintaining the registry, the organization assists its users with instruction, automated tools and industry specific protocols.
Carbon Disclosure Project – The Carbon Disclosure Project is an independent not-for-profit organization holding one of the largest databases of primary corporate climate change information in the world. Thousands of organizations from across the world’s major economies measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies through CDP.
U.S. EPA Climate Leaders Program – Climate Leaders is an EPA industry-government partnership that works with companies to develop comprehensive climate change strategies. Partner companies commit to reducing their impact on the global environment by completing a corporate-wide inventory of their greenhouse gas emissions based on a quality management system, setting aggressive reduction goals, and annually reporting their progress to the EPA.
Programa Brasileiro (Brazil) – Petrobras, Ford Brasil, Wal-Mart Brasil, and Whirlpool are some of the first companies to voluntarily measure and publicly report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the Brazil GHG Protocol Program. The Brazil GHG Protocol Program is a partnership of Brazil’s Ministry of Environment, the Brazilian Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Fundação Getúlio Vargas, the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, and the World Resources Institute (WRI).
The India GHG Inventory Program comes out of a partnership between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), The US EPA, and WRI. CII’s The Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Center will lead the implementation of the program. This initiative utilizes the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and is modeled after the US EPA Climate Leaders program.
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