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BERLIN, 21 NOVEMBER PCF Pilot Project sends newsletter 01
From now on the newsletter will be published regularly and provides information about the project progress, methodical coordination and the possibilities for companies to join the project.
The first issue deals amongst others with the current process for calculating product-related greenhouse gas emissions, the publication of PAS 2050 by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and provides a detailed overview of all products, for which a product carbon footprint will be assessed within the PCF Pilot Project Germany.
You can download the current newsletter and register for any further issues here.
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BERLIN, 10 NOVEMBER
Baden Württemberg’s minister of enviroment Tanja Gönner welcomed the project delegates of the ten corporate partners and four project initiators of the PCF Pilot Project Germany at the second meeting of the steering committee in the Baden Württemberg state house of representatives. “You have taken a bold step in taking on this important task. I can guarantee you the support of my state and house”, said Baden Württemberg’s minister for the environment.
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LONDON, 29 OCTOBER British Standards Institution (BSI) Launches PAS 2050 Standard
On 29 October 2008, the British Standards Institution (BSI) officially launched its PAS 2050 standard, previously only available in draft form. PAS 2050 marks the first attempt at establishing a unique standard for consistent assessment of greenhouse gas emissions embodied in goods and services throughout their entire life cycle (Product Carbon Footprint). The PCF Pilot Project Germany welcomes the attempt of establishing a unique standard for measuring Product Carbon Footprints. The establishment of a common standard is an urgently needed step, so that companies are not confronted with several inconsistent standards. Consumers also need to be able to rely on the information provided by companies; that results are proven, consistently assessed and clearly documented. Without reliable information, companies risk confusing consumers – with a debatable effect on the climate. |
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LONDON, 23 & 24 SEPTEMBER Participation in First Meeting of GHG Protocol Technical Working Groups
Three representatives of the PCF Pilot Project Germany – Adriane Nebel from the WWF, Rasmus Prieß from THEMA1 and Stefan Seum from the Öko-Institut - Institute for Applied Ecology took part in the first meeting of the Technical Working Groups of the recently launched Product and Supply Chain Initiative of the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The initiative is aimed at standardising accounting frameworks for assessing CO2 emissions of product life cycles and corporate value chains. At the meeting, approximately 70 representatives from various organisations from around the world discussed basic methodical requirements and approaches. The focus was on how to organise tasks in the Technical Working Groups to ensure that the ambitious plan stays on schedule and the various objectives of the new standard are best fulfilled. The new standard will complement the existing GHG protocol for assessing Corporate Carbon Footprints and is scheduled to be implemented by May 2010. |
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WASHINGTON, 10 SEPTEMBER 2008 PCF Pilot Project part of Steering Committee for Greenhouse Gas Protocol Extension
The World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have launched a comprehensive stakeholder process for developing frameworks for assessing product and value chain related greenhouse gas emissions. Development of the standard will take two years and is based on the previously introduced GHG Protocol for assessing corporate greenhouse gas emissions. The PCF Pilot Project Germany is represented by Rasmus Prieß (THEMA1) in the Steering Committee and by Christian Hochfeld (Öko-Institut - Institute for Applied Ecology) in the Technical Working Groups.
The first meeting of the Steering Committees took place 10 September 2008 in Washington, D.C., and defined the basic objectives and prepared the groundwork for the Technical Working Groups.
The PCF Pilot Project Germany will contribute constructively to the process and work to establish a standard international framework, based on practical experiences from several cross-product and cross-industry case studies drafted for the PCF Pilot Project Germany. |
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BERLIN, 21 JULY 2008 PCF Pilot Project Germany presents three new corporate partners from the wholesale, retail and chemicals sectors.
DSM, REWE Group and the Tengelmann Group join dm-drogerie markt, FRoSTA, Henkel, Tchibo, Tetra Pak, and T-Home in a Pilot Project to measure the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) of selected products and services. |
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BERLIN, 23 JUNE 2008 Methodology Task Force Discusses PAS 2050 with the Carbon Trust
In a workshop held by the Methodology Task Force of the PCF Pilot Project Germany Euan Murray and Humbert Hervé of the Carbon Trust presented and discussed the current state of development of the PAS 2050 standard with participants. Since all of the participants had hands-on experience of the methodical challenges from their own case studies, a high technical level of debate was possible. Euan Murray explained that the current draft of the PAS 2050 standard will be thoroughly reviewed prior to official announcement in late September/ early October. The speaker ensured that the suggestions from the Methodology Task Force would also be taken into account. |
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BERLIN, 27 MAY 2008 Projekt Task Force Defines Communication Requirements
As part of the second workshop by the Communications Task Force, the project initiators and corporate partners of the PCF Pilot Project Germany today discussed various international initiatives and their approaches to providing product life cycle related information with climate impact labelling. They were rated on the basis of the criteria credibility, relevance for actions, simplicity, comparability and consistency. The greatest point of criticism was the frequent lack of transparency behind the methodical frameworks of the different initiatives. The aim of the next workshop is therefore to agree on requirements for the communication of product-related information |
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PARIS, 23 MAY 2008 Participation in the Kick-Off Workshop of "Plateforme d'affichage"
At the Grenelle Environnement (Environment Round Table), the French government and large French retailers and consumer products manufacturers launched an initiative to pilot labelling of CO2 emissions and climate impact of products for more than 3,000 goods and services by 2011. As a framework for the various pilot projects, a so-called “Référentiel de bonne pratique” will be drafted in a joint process by September 2008 – specifying guidelines for conducting pilot projects. The kick-off workshop took place on 23 May 2008 in Paris. As one of two international representatives together with the Carbon Trust, Rasmus Prieß (THEMA1) took part in the workshop on behalf of the PCF Pilot Project Germany. Prieß emphasised the importance of internationally coordinated approaches to establish standard frameworks for assessing product-related greenhouse gas emissions. |
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BRÜSSEL, 13 MAY 2008 PCF Pilot Project Germany Takes Part in Discussions at Dialogue Forum in Brussels
Hosted by the Dialogue Forum Low Carbon Society together with the European Climate Forum and The Centre, the European conference on Product Carbon Footprints was the first jointmeeting of Europe’s most important initiatives. Following key notes by Joachim Ganse (Deloitte) and Stephan Singer (WWF), Euan Murray from the British Carbon Trust presented the current state of development of the PAS 2050 standard. Next was a panel discussion on the topic of “Product Carbon Footprinting in Europe” with Rasmus Prieß from the PCF Pilot Project Germany, Professor Azapagic from the University of Manchester, Stephan Singer (WWF) and with the Swiss Climatop initiative. Jacob Bilabel from THEMA1 facilitated the discussion. After the break, Mattia Pelligrini (European Commission, DG Health and Consumer Protection) opened the programme with his introductory note on “The Dilemma of the Sustainable Consumer”. It was followed by a joint look at various European labelling approaches. Ellen Gladers from Tesco (United Kingdom) presented together with Cornelia Diethelm from Migros (Schweiz) and Sören Persson from the Swedish KRAV Label. Stephane Lepochat from the French Environment and Energy Management Agency Ademe also kindly agreed to hold an impromptu presentation on the French environment labelling initiatives. All participants agreed on the importance of early coordination of methodical approaches. |
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BERLIN, 24 ARPIL 2008 British Carbon Trust Presenting at PCF Pilot Project Germany
The PCF Pilot Project Germany acts as a forum for discussion on how to best inform customers and consumers on the climate impact of products. This requires proper understanding of the current international developments. At a workshop held as part of the PCF Pilot Project Germany, Iciar Vaquero from the Carbon Trust, based in the United Kingdom, presented the current state of development of the British Carbon Reduction Label and announced significant changes to the previously used label. Tesco, for example, will soon be using the new label on its products. The new label will contain binding and optional elements and resolve some of the issues of the first label. Participants asked several questions, proving once again how important an international exchange is, in particular for ruling out misunderstandings in the early phases. At the same time, participants agreed that there are still some issues with the approaches currently under consideration, which could call their effectiveness for promoting low-carbon consumption into question. |
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BERLIN, 15 APRIL 2008 Public Kick-Off Symposium of PCF Pilot Project Germany in Berlin
dm-drogerie markt, FRoSTA, Henkel, Tchibo, T-Home and Tetra Pak today announced their involvement in the Pilot Project for assessing so-called Product Carbon Footprints. Under the project leadership of the WWF, Öko-Institut - Institute for Applied Ecology, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and THEMA1, the six companies have launched a joint Pilot Project to assess emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, so-called Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs), for selected products.
Together, they are actively promoting the emergence of common standard for assessing Product Carbon Footprints. In view of international developments, the Pilot Project also acts as a forum for discussing how to best inform customers and consumers of product-related life cycle emissions. |
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BERLIN, 26 FEBRUARY 2008 Project Initiators Start Product Carbon Footprint Pilot Project in Germany
A consortium consisting of the WWF, the Öko-Institut - Institute for Applied Ecology, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and THEMA1 offers selected companies the opportunity to take part in the Product Carbon Footprint Pilot Project Germany.
As part of the Pilot Project, companies will assess emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, so-called Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs), for selected products. |
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