Step forward on reducing climate change impacts from products

The Carbon Trust, Defra and the BSI British Standards have announced they are to work together to co-sponsor the development of a program to measure the embodied greenhouse gases in products and services.

This will enable companies to measure the related impacts of their products and reduce them.

Once completed the single standard will ensure a consistent and comparable approach to supply chain measurement across markets, it will help companies understand the life-cycle climate change impacts of their products and highlight significant emissions reduction opportunities.

BSI British Standards will oversee the development using the Carbon Trust pilot methodology as a starting point.

Climate Change and Environment Minister Ian Pearson said: “The products that businesses make, buy and sell have an impact, both on climate change and the wider environment, at all stages from raw material to when the product is no longer required. These are created by the energy and other resources used, and the resulting emissions, in areas like production, transport and use of products as well as waste from packaging and discarded products.

“More and more, businesses are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment. To help them achieve that we need a reliable, consistent way to measure these impacts that businesses recognise, trust and understand. This is important work and will be fundamental in our efforts to move Britain towards a low-carbon economy in the decades ahead.”

Mike Low, Director of BSI British Standards said:

“BSI British Standards is delighted to be working with the Carbon Trust and Defra to bring clarity and consensus to this important area of work. BSI believes that this is an important first step towards a framework that will enable businesses and consumers to reduce their carbon impact.”

Jim Skea, Chair of the TAG adds:

“All the members of the Technical Advisory Group are excited to be working with this initiative. For the standard to be credible and make a difference, the methods behind the measurement have to be robust. Our job is to make sure that consumers and suppliers can place their trust in the information they are presented with.”

The Carbon Trust

The Carbon Trust is a private company set up by government in response to the threat of climate change, to accelerate the transition to a low carbon economy. The Carbon Trust works with UK business and the public sector to create practical business-focused solutions through its external work in five complementary areas: insights, solutions, innovations, enterprises and investments. Together these help to explain, deliver, develop, create and finance low carbon enterprise.
The Carbon Trust is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and Invest NI.
For more information on the Carbon Trust visit www.carbontrust.co.uk or call the Carbon Trust Advice Line on 0800 085 2005.

BSI British Standards

BSI British Standards is the UK’s national standards organisation, working with businesses, consumers and government to represent UK interests and facilitate the production of British, European and international standards to meet economic and social needs. For further information please go to www.bsiglobal.com/british_standards
A Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is a sponsored fast-track standard driven by the needs of the client organization/s and developed according to guidelines set out by BSI. Key stakeholders are brought together to collaboratively produce a BSI-endorsed PAS that has all the functionality of a British Standard for the purposes of creating management systems, product benchmarks and codes of practice. After two years the PAS is reviewed and a decision is made as to whether it should be taken forward to become a formal British Standard.

s a Toyota Prius really greener than, say a new BMW 118d? The hybrid Toyota might offer lower CO2 emissions per kilometre, but how much more CO2 is created in manufacturing it?

New-car buyers could soon be in the know, if a government initiative in collaboration with the British Standards Institute and the Carbon Trust goes ahead.

The plan is to develop a method for measuring greenhouse gas emissions in the manufacturing of all products.

Primarily this will be to allow firms to measure the impact their products have on the environment, but it should also lead to labelling that helps consumers buy greener cars.

Inevitably it's extremely hard to account for all of the CO2 produced in manufacturing.

In 2006, US American market research company CNW produced a report that measured the amount of energy cars used throughout their lifecycle, from manufacturing to running to disposal.

Controversially, it indicated that a Jeep Wrangler emits far less CO2 than a Prius when its manufacturing and longer life expectancy are taken into account, despite far higher exhaust emissions per kilometre.

There's no indication yet when the new ratings will be introduced. A government spokesperson said consultation with manufacturers is due to begin this summer.