I am working on infrastructure for the long term as well, and I have also been surprised by how little attention this draws, even though everybody seems to be talking about climate change.

I am trying to identify the elements necessary for building a comprehensive database of GHG impacts of products. And by “comprehensive” I mean everything shall be in there, covering all products and all countries. Where we have good data, it must get into the database and where we don’t have it, proxies must be used. I want to link that database with a smart tool for personal GHG accounting (there are many calculators out there, but none of them allows for a direct link with products – a level of detail that is needed to really start the race down to zero emissions). So this is the infrastructure I am looking at and I would be very thankful if you could share some hints on where to look and who to work with in order to make this a reality.

Linked to this, I want to start a “climate positive” movement that brings together all those who are dedicated enough to pledge to go beyond carbon neutrality by taking GHGs out of the atmosphere (in sum of remaining emissions plus compensations). At the moment climate activists are left alone with general advice on how to bring their emissions down. But there is no comprehensive information about everything out there on the market that would enable you to actually know how much you are emitting exactly.

By creating the database and the personal accounting tool I hope to enable the first step towards a “GHG literate” society. Climate positive groups in every city and country can then start buying only those products that are explicit about their climate impact and lobbying business and government to move forward on transparency. I believe that this can become the cultural matrix for the change towards a more robust scientific/standards etc. infrastructure you are working on. And obviously not only activists who have pledged to go climate positive, but the whole public in general would benefit from transparency on climate impacts of products, creating a much more tangible incentive for business that goes beyond CSR (you don’t want to be at the bottom of the climate listing).
Until neither consumers nor business nor government demand “climate transparency” there will be very limited interest in bringing forward that work. Once it really counts how you calculate your emissions and there is a good number of people who understand the details, this infrastructure will be put in place in a solid way pretty fast, I believe.

So I hope that this initiative will help to get you from a lonely office to becoming everybody’s darling, because you really are at the forefront of the transformation to a zero-emissions society!

I would be happy to read your thoughts and if you think you can support this effort somehow, that would be great.

Kjell

Thanks for the thoughtful comments. The only point I would add is recognizing that “accounting” is probably not the optimal word for what this field really does, although we all use the term. It unfortunately implies tasks that are far less related to scientific and engineering expertise than it is in reality. So the the experience from financial accounting is useful and instructive, but not a perfect analog.

michael

You can find the link to the journal in the blog post above or go directly to it here:
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/journals/GHGMM

michael

A resounding YES to your comments about the importance of infrastructure!

Without adequate infrastructure around all of the elements you have listed, it will be extremely difficult to confirm the existence of actual reductions–the fundamental purpose of any GHG policy effort.

Unfortunately, we cannot wish a CO2 reduction into existence. We must be able to accurately measure and verify that it actually does exist so the reduction can be appropriately recognized as such by voluntary, legal and regulatory systems.

While all of this may seem complex, the application to GHG accounting and trading instruments is not unique. There are generally accepted GHG accounting practices and the infrastructure concepts you identify are commonly accepted as necessary when managing other commodities.

Karen

Please do not feel lonely, as our colleagues in ISO and CSA have been working hard since 2002 with colleagues from over 157 countries to create standards and personal certification for GHG professionals (ISO 14064/ 14065/14066/14067).

Can you send me a link to the GHG Journal please?

The loneliness. I understand your comment and commend your efforts. I had until recently tried to be involved in the business but the ever-shifting rules and abstract nature of it all left me unable to make any money to even continue.

I am the ” guy on the ground ” willing to find a way to make this all understandable to the everyday person which will therefore allow buy-in. Without buy-in from the end user it simply cannot achieve relevance.