Science-based guidance in emission management
There is an increasing global awareness that scope 3 emissions need to be addressed for greater climate impact (whilst often the hardest to manage). Various guidance setting initiatives and organizations have formulated procedures on how to approach this conundrum using the concepts described in our Academy. CarbonLeap holds a view that this guidance for a voluntary carbon market is of crucial importance to allow for a scalable approach in climate mitigation. It partners with a variety of these initiatives in spearheading the efforts.
The Value Change Initiative, an effort by SustainCERT and Gold Standard is the initiative working across sectors with a focus on how to account and report for scope 3 emissions. It states that organizations need to be committed to delivering positive environmental and social impact up and down their value chains. This requires the courage to challenge the status quo, as well as new ways and means to make change happen. A multi-stakeholder forum has co-created systems for co-claiming and co-investments, allowing companies to share cost and risk of investments along the value chain while mutually benefitting from climate claims. Among others, it developed the concept of supply sheds to enable action across the value chain in (insetting) ways that have been challenging before. It is aligned with standards such as SBTi and GHG Protocol and supplements them by offering guidance at the implementation level.
The World Economic Forum (We Forum) has come together with the Smart Freight Centre (SFC) to produce a Voluntary Framework for Logistics Emissions Accounting and Reporting (Framework). Transport related emissions account for a quarter of global CO2 emissions and are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases, making it critical for the sector to accelerate decarbonization efforts in line with science-based targets (1.5°). The Framework delves into the book & claim chain of custody approach in heavy transport supply chain decarbonization, encouraging low emission transportation solutions such as biofuels. This framework builds on and supplements the fundamental transportation greenhouse gas emissions accounting principles described in SFC’s GLEC Framework.
The Round Table of Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) a membership community of over 130 industry and sector leaders, environmental and civil society organisations, academic institutions, and UN and government bodies, have published a book & claim manual focused on the aviation and shipping sectors and specifies the book & claim processes of registering, transferring, and retiring of sustainability attributes RSB B&C Programme.
The Global Maritime Forum, an international not-for-profit organisation for the global maritime industry, convening leaders from across the maritime community with policy-makers, experts, NGOs and other influential decision-makers, recently published its brief on accelerating maritime decarbonization. This highlights the book & claim chain of custody system for the transition to zero emission fuels in shipping, detailing concepts of accounting & reporting, demand aggregation and need for reporting standards and registries.
Several not-for-profit demand aggregators such as RMI, an independent non-partisan nonprofit that transforms global energy systems through market-driven solutions, and the Aspen Institute, which gathers diverse, nonpartisan thought leaders, creatives, scholars and members of the public to address some of the world's most complex problems, have pushed relevant science-based efforts to underscore the importance of transport supply chain decarbonization. RMI sets guidance for Book & Claim applications and Aspen has facilitated the Zemba initiative of cargo owners, which aims to accelerate commercial deployment of zero-emission shipping, enable economies of scale.
It is worth noting that book & claim emission reporting cannot yet be reported under either GHG Protocol or applied towards the achievements of a firm’s science-based targets initiatives. SBTi a corporate climate action organization that enables companies and financial institutions worldwide to play their part in combating the climate crisis, has not specifically endorsed the book & claim concept within scope 3 value chains, but recently expanded its reach through Beyond Value Chain Mitigation (BVCM) guidance. SBTi recommends that companies use BVCM measures to accelerate progress towards net-zero and encourages companies to take immediate and consistent action to deliver BVCM. Moreover, companies must report annually on their BVCM measures, which should be >50% of their remaining scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. The BVCM claims must be verified by independent 3rd parties. Accordingly, the chain of custody concepts as described in this Academy are gaining greater alignment with SBTi principles, but more is needed relative to establishing standard accounting frameworks, commercial norms and universally accepted reporting standards, eventually driving convergence and acceptability of book & claim.
