A new standard for assessing the life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services

Originally published as a news service on 5th Nov 08 by IHS

Businesses can assess the carbon footprint of their goods and services and play a greater part in fighting climate change with BSI publicly available specification (PAS) 2050:2008 - Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services, a new standard launched by BSI British Standards, the Carbon Trust and Defra.

The standard offers a way of counting the greenhouse gas emissions embedded in goods and services throughout their entire lifecycle - from sourcing raw materials, through to manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.

According to BSI, the new standard seeks to help businesses move beyond managing the emissions their own processes create and to look at the opportunities for reducing emissions in the design, making and supplying of products.

This, BSI said, should lead businesses to make goods or services that are less carbon intensive and develop new products with lower carbon footprints.

"For the first time, businesses have a robust, consistent standard for measuring the carbon footprint of their goods and services," said Tom Delay, Carbon Trust chief executive.

"This exciting development will help businesses to really understand the carbon impact of their products and to follow this up with tangible ways to cut carbon emissions across the supply chain," he said.

"[BSI] PAS 2050 has been developed using BSI's rigorous consultation process, involving almost a thousand industry experts from within the U.K. and internationally," said Mike Low, director of BSI British Standards.

"The result is a robust framework within which businesses and public sector bodies will be able to assess the greenhouse gas emissions of their goods and services in a consistent manner. Our hope is that it will be used widely by organizations of all sizes and sectors," Low said.

To download your free copy of PAS 2050:2008 - Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services click here

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