An Overview of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory Issues
The trend toward increased corporate reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is driven in part by company recognition that enough is known about climate change to warrant emissions reductions in the near term — and that some kind of regulatory or market-based response is inevitable. An emissions inventory is the first step in that process.
This report by the Pew Center on Global Climate Change describes the pioneering work being done by some of the world’s leading companies — American Electric Power, Baxter International, BP Amoco, DuPont, Entergy, Niagara Mohawk, Shell, United Technologies, and Whirlpool — to inventory and report their greenhouse gas emissions. Authored by a team from Arthur D. Little, Inc., it presents a set of principles for these efforts and identifies key decision points in the process.
The report also lists resources that companies may use to get started, including official government guidance, software programs, and guidebooks produced by environmental groups and business associations.
