BSI has published a new edition of its carbon footprinting standard, PAS 2050, in a bid to align it further with international approaches and make it more relevant for businesses.
First published in 2008, PAS 2050 provides a framework for assessing the amount of carbon emitted in the creation of products and services.
Following feedback from users and the broader carbon footprinting sector, the new revision of the standard aims to provide greater clarity on the treatment of recyclable materials and includes emissions from biomass and other biogenic sources.
It also introduces a framework that will help to coordinate the creation and use of additional sector or product-specific requirements that can be used with PAS 2050 to enable more tailored greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions assessments.
“The updated PAS is welcome as a robust tool that can support GHG reduction across the value chain for goods and services,” says Nick Blyth, IEMA senior adviser on climate change and contributor to the PAS revision.
“Product focus is growing and evidence from IEMA’s 2010 survey and special report, shows that 39% of practitioners are already experiencing GHG supply chain requirements from key clients and customers.”
The revision, which was sponsored jointly by Defra, DECC and the business department, includes contributions from ISO, the European Commission and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.
“Many businesses are already seeing the benefits of using PAS 2050 to calculate the carbon footprint of their goods and services, helping them to reduce their emissions, improve their company reputation and identify savings opportunities,” says environment minister Richard Benyon.
“The revisions bring further improvements to PAS 2050. I encourage more businesses to use the improved framework so they can share in the benefits it can provide.”
To help organisations understand the changes BSI is updating its guidance document for the standard with greater examples of best practice, tools and frameworks for calculating product-level GHG emissions.
It will also be running workshops specifically aimed at helping small and medium-sized organisations to get to grips with the standard. For more information visit the BSI website.
