International Workshop Carbon Footprinting

Climate change as a result of uncontrolled anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is accepted as scientifically proven for the majority of our society. As a consequence of this global threat the necessity was created to indentify and quantify the contributions of individuals, companies and countries to this effect. Also mitigation efforts generated the need for methods to quantify these contributions. In this regard the term Carbon Footprint emerged and was widespread applied throughout the media and entered our common language.

General Focus

Carbon Footprint analyses are conducted on various levels and for a variety of purposes. Countries implement and report their greenhouse gas inventories due to international obligations whereas companies monitor their emissions on plant level to meet legal requirements under emissions trading schemes. Additionally an increasing number of companies voluntarily determine their GHG emissions on product and process level over the whole value chain. The results are used to communicate environmental performance to the public, to demonstrate progress towards voluntary commitments, or to internally evaluate risk exposure. Also individuals determine their personal contribution due to own activities.

Based on different objectives and frameworks for carbon footprint analyses a wide range of calculation standards exist. Despite the fact that inventories and carbon footprints must be transparent, consistent and credible, they often differ in complexity, accuracy, system boundaries, and consideration of GHGs. Beside international and governmental standards (EU-ETS, UNFCCC) and private and non-governmental approaches, general industry guidelines are available or under development such as ISO 14064, PAS 2050, VDI 4090-2. While the aim is to come to general international accepted standards, differences will still exist due to the different objectives to demonstrate the Carbon Footprint of activities, processes and products.

Software products assist to implement GHG inventories and to maintain the knowledge effectively within institutions and companies. The wide range of existing software applications covers scientific tools as well as basic tools from retail offset providers.

The aim of this workshop is to give a general overview on recent developments in the area of carbon footprinting and GHG inventories. Moreover it provides companies and research institutes with a forum to present their experiences and solutions in this sector.

Topics

• Background on obligations and international requirements
• Introduction of existing standards
• Conceptual design of carbon footprinting
• Software tools and applications
• Company solutions and integration in existing systems
• Design and labeling of CO2-neutral products and services
• Benefits and risks related to carbon footprinting for companies
• Carbon offset opportunities for companies
• Outlook on international standardization processes

Dates

See EnviroInfo 2009 Conference Dates
20.04.2009 Electronic submission of full papers or extended abstracts for workshops

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