Counting carbon with PAS
2050
With UKAS beginning trials for PAS 2050 certification in the UK, takes a closer look at the standard for carbon footprinting goods and services
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The impact of organizations upon the environment is at the heart of an increasing number of standards. In October 2008 BSI British Standards added to its number by publishing PAS 2050 to aid businesses in assessing the carbon footprint of individual goods and services. |
PAS 2050 is available free online and has been downloaded in more than 80 countries around the world – confirming the need for such a standard internationally.
Developed in partnership with the Carbon Trust and the UK government, PAS 2050 was the first standard to establish a consistent methodology with which organizations can assess the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a product throughout its entire lifecycle.
Euan Murray, general manager of carbon footprinting at the Carbon Trust, explains how business drove demand for the specification. ‘We started work on PAS 2050 because the companies we had worked with wanted to understand emissions across their supply chains and, ultimately, the footprint of their products.’
Assessing emissions
PAS 2050 aims to allow businesses to become more aware of the creation of greenhouse gases in every stage of a product or service’s lifecycle, from the sourcing of materials and manufacturing to use and disposal. This allows organizations to spot where improvements may be made.
Maria Varbeva-Daley, sector content manager – sustainability at BSI, says: ‘PAS 2050 helps businesses to understand the story of their products, where they come from and what their impact is. It helps organizations to move beyond simply managing the direct operational greenhouse gas emissions and to look at reduction opportunities in the entire supply chain of goods and services.’
As Maria says, the standard aims to have as broad a use as possible. ‘It is a document that can be used by organizations of all sizes and in all sectors, regardless of geographic location. It’s already used by numerous companies across very long and complex international supply chains and in the creation of lots of different products.’
Consumer confidence
One of the most important aspects of PAS 2050 is the boost of confidence that consumers and members of the supply chain can have in an organization’s carbon emissions claims. As the standard is independent, it allows direct comparisons to be made.
Chris Harrop, group marketing director of hard landscaping company Marshalls, user of PAS 2050, says: ‘The biggest benefit of PAS 2050 is standardisation and the ability to compare apples with apples. There are so many people out there touting their own process for calculating carbon footprints that unless there is a consistent view, consumers will be confused and switch off.’
Consumers are crucially important within the carbon footprinting process because they are part of the drive for change. Climate change is consistently near the top of government agendas and society’s impact on the environment is constantly in the news. Euan Murray from the Carbon Trust confirms that this was an additional driver in creating PAS 2050: ‘As we carried out our pilots it became apparent that consumers were increasingly interested in the carbon footprint of the products they were buying and what companies were doing about carbon emissions.’
Carbon counting certification
The UK accreditation body, UKAS, is currently running accreditation and certification trials with five certification bodies on PAS 2050 and a code of good practice on communicating assessment results. A spokesman for UKAS explained the move: ‘Feedback showed that although certification to PAS 2050 by itself would be needed, some companies also wanted their products to be certified under the code as well.’
In the long term it is likely that PAS 2050 will be replaced by ISO 14067, the international standard for product carbon footprinting – currently in the early stages of development. Paul Smith, project leader, carbon footprinting and labelling at LRQA explains, ‘While PAS 2050 is a good tool, it is not a perfect one. It is not universally accepted and alternatives are already being developed in countries such as Japan and Germany. PAS 2050 is a seed document for ISO 14067 and the future probably lies with the international standard once it is published.’
Publication of ISO 14067 is planned for 2011 and will cover both the assessment of greenhouse gas emission and the communication of results. While the details of ISO 14067 remain unclear, the need for organizations and consumers, to be aware of products’ carbon footprints is becoming increasingly important. As Klaus Radunksy, convener of the ISO working group developing ISO 14067, puts it: ‘The decarbonisation of our economies strongly depends on decisions made by individuals. If consumers opt for cars that consume lots of fuel we will not be able to achieve decarbonisation. If they opt for zero-emission cars, that target can be reached without any problems.’
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