On the Way to a Low Carbon Society

Limiting human-induced global warming is one of society’s most pressing tasks, for science, politics and business alike. According to scientific studies, most notably by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the required long-term objective for today’s industrial nations is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 80% by 2050. This transition to a “Low Carbon Society” requires fundamental change – and confronts all of society with enormous challenges. Increasingly, proactive companies in various sectors are seeing the opportunities of the resulting transformation processes and are implementing integrated corporate and sustainability strategies for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

International Accounting Standards
Before we can start optimizing, we need to assess our own levels of greenhouse gas emissions. After all, “You cannot manage what you cannot measure”. However, the basic prerequisite for being able to measure and jointly manage greenhouse gas emissions is to have a scientifically substantiated, transparent and internationally coordinated assessment framework both on the corporate and the product level. And, for the full product life cycle: that is, from manufacturing to use to disposal.

In view of the differences and lack of coordination between various PCF accounting methods, the joint objective must be to establish an internationally recognised standard for assessing product-related greenhouse gas emissions.

2008 saw the kick-off of international cross-industry standardisation processes, which will be finished in 2010 or 2011 at the earliest. The objectives of the PCF Pilot Project are to support these important processes with hands-on corporate experiences and to minimize proliferation of differing inconsistent methods of PCF assessment.

Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)
Measuring and analysing product-related greenhouse gas emissions levels can help companies improve their complex value chains. Knowing exactly what levels of greenhouse gas emissions the corporate value chain causes increasinlgy becomes a strategic control instance for the quality, safety and sustainability of production processes in the developing Low Carbon Society.

Consistent assessment methods allow companies to provide credible information on product-related greenhouse gas emissions, so-called Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs). These can help customers and consumers lower their personal greenhouse gas emissions by being able to make consumption decisions with greater awareness of a product’s impact on the climate.