Reporting(Part 2- Guidance)

Guidance

1. Goal of public reporting

  • Goal of GHG Inventory:
    1. GHG stands for Greenhouse Gas, like the gases that contribute to global warming.
    2. The GHG Protocol Product Standard is a set of rules to measure and report these gases during the whole life of a product (from making it to using it).
    3. The big goal is to encourage and push for ways to reduce these gases over a product’s life.
  • Why Create the GHG Inventory:
    1. The process of making the GHG inventory (list of greenhouse gases) is like a plan.
    2. It helps people understand where these gases come from in the product’s life.
    3. The idea is to figure out how to reduce these gases, and the whole process— from making the list to telling others about it— helps make this happen.
  • From Inventory to Reporting:
    1. The process has two main steps: making the list (inventory) and telling people about it (reporting).
    2. The goal is to understand where the chances are to reduce greenhouse gases and then tell others about it.
    3. Reporting is the final step, like sharing a report card that shows how well you’ve done and what you’ve learned.
  • Importance of Identifying Target Audience and Goals:
    1. Before doing anything, it’s important to know who you’re talking to (target audience) and what you want to achieve (business goals).
    2. If you’re trying to reduce greenhouse gases, you need to know who needs to hear about it and what changes you want to see.
  • Reporting Steps and Optional Elements:
    1. The passage mentions some things you should do when reporting.
    2. It suggests a website (www.ghgprotocol.org) where companies can find a template (like a guide) to help them organize their report.
    3. There are also optional things to report, which means extra information that might be helpful.

2. Identifying the audience

  • Considering the Audience from the Start:
    1. Imagine a company is making a plan or list (inventory) about something important.
    2. Right from the beginning, it’s crucial to think about who is going to read or use this information (the audience).
  • Connection through the Inventory Report:
    1. One big chance to make people interested and understand what the company is doing is when they share their inventory report.
    2. The inventory report is like a special document that talks about what the company has done and why.
  • Objectives for the Inventory Report:
    1. The company should try to achieve some important things with this report.
    2. They should help readers (users) understand why they made certain decisions (accounting decisions), the reasons behind them (rationale), and the bigger picture (context).
    3. Also, they need to be honest about what the report can and cannot do (limitations), and how people can use the information (potential uses).
  • Public Disclosure Doesn’t Mean One Audience:
    1. When a company shares its information with the public (public disclosure), it doesn’t mean everyone reading it is the same.
    2. There are different groups of people (audiences) who might be interested in different things.
    3. The passage talks about a table that lists who these audiences are and how the report can help them.

3. Disclaimer

    Providing a disclaimer ensures that  readers understand the scope and intended purpose of the inventory results and are aware          of any limitations.

4. Use of results

  • Who’s Interested in the Public Report:
    1. Imagine a company makes a special report that anyone can read (public report).
    2. The people reading this report (the audience) are likely most interested in knowing what the company is doing or planning to do to reduce the gases that cause global warming (GHG emissions).
  • What the Audience Might Want to Know:
    1. Readers might also be curious about what they, as users or consumers of the product, can do to reduce their impact on the environment.
    2. So, the company should tell its stakeholders (people interested in the company) about the steps it’s taking and suggest actions users can take to help too.
  • Information in a Subsequent Report:
    1. If this is not the first report and the company has shared information before, they should give a quick overview of any reductions they’ve achieved since the last report.
    2. Examples of what they could share include plans to reduce emissions from specific sources, advice for users to reduce their impact, or a summary of changes compared to the last report.
  • Clarity in Reporting Increases:
    1. If, unfortunately, emissions have gone up instead of down, the report should be clear about it. They should not use a minus sign, as it might confuse readers. Instead, they should clearly state that the number represents an increase.
  • Key Step: Review and Summarize:
    1. One important step in making the report is to look back at the purpose and context of the study.
    2. The company should talk about the important choices they made when putting the report together and share their thoughts on how significant and limited the information might be.
    3. They should also be clear about what the study aimed to achieve and what decisions were beyond its scope.

5. Optional reporting

In addition to required elements, a company should consider reporting on elements that meet the needs of its potential audience, its specific business goals, or the requirements of product rules and sector guideline developed in conformance with the Product Standard. These elements may be added to the public report or made available upon request and may include:

  • Business goals met by performing a GHG inventory
  • Additional background information on inventory results and how they are calculated
  • Additional disclaimers around proper use of results SKU, NAICS code, UNSPSC code or other unique product/service identifier
  • Additional details around why a particular unit of analysis was chosen
  • The country(ies) where the raw material acquisition, production, and distribution stages occur
  • Information on data collected from suppliers, including:
    1. Percent engagement from supplier surveys
    2. Data collection techniques and sources
  • Quantitative uncertainty assessments
  • Data for other GHGs that may be relevant to the studied product
  • Inventory results using a 20 or 500 year GWP factor or other impact assessment metrics such as global temperate potential (GTP)
  • If the functional unit and subsequent inventory results are applicable to multiple product varieties (e.g., different flavors or colors), information on those varieties
  • Indirect land-use change impacts reported separately from the inventory results
  • Additional disaggregation of GHG impacts. Examples include:
    1. CO2e emissions reported as a fraction of all GHG components (i.e., grams of CO2, N2O, CH4, etc.)
    2. For specific attributable processes or material, energy and service inputs, such as product packaging
    3. The sum of transportation occurring throughout the life cycle 
  • Weighting factors for delayed emissions
  • Information on offsets that have been purchased or developed outside the inventory boundary and reported separately from the inventory results. This information should:
    1. Disaggregate offsets by emissions reductions and/or removals
    2. Specify the types of offset project/s
    3. Specify geographical and organizational origin
    4. Specify how offsets have been quantified
    5. Specify how double counting of offsets has been avoided
    6. Specify whether they have been certified or recognized by an external GHG program (e.g., the Clean Development Mechanism)
    7. Specify whether and to what extent purchased offsets were used to meet reduction targets (if established)
  • Information on any reductions sold as offsets from sources within the inventory boundary that are owned or controlled by the reporting company
  • Avoided emissions and/or emissions caused by sources outside the inventory boundary reported separately from the inventory results
  • Other emissions or removals calculated by consequential modeling reported separately from the inventory results
  • Additional guidance on how the results should be interpreted and used
  • Detailed reduction plans for future inventories
  • A summary and explanation of any increase in emissions or decrease in removals since the last inventory, including
  • what plans the company has to achieve inventory reductions in the future

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