FAQs

Is your offering just another carbon calculator?

The Carbon Report is definitely not just another online carbon footprint calculator. Carbon calculators are designed to calculate the carbon emissions of common business and personal activities. Often these are based on factors that are not relevant to your geography and the results obtained lack credibility in respect of source. They also don’t produce a [...]

I don’t know which emissions to report? Can The Carbon Report help?

The Carbon Report has been designed for use by end users who have a very limited or even no understanding of how greenhouse gas and CO2 accounting operates. The way we do this is through extensive help that has been built into the application as well as telephonic support and advice that comes with your [...]

What is global warming?

Global warming and resulting climate change is attributed to an increase in greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. Although debate still rages as to the causes of this increase in greenhouse gas, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has stated a greater than 90% probability that the increases are anthropogenic, directly related to [...]

What causes carbon emissions?

Usually we think of industry—of factories with smokestacks—when we consider the major sources of the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to climate change. Although that is correct offices and services based companies account for a surprisingly large part of the climate change problem. Lights, heating and cooling, computers, printers, copiers, business travel, and commuting are [...]

Why is this relevant to South African companies?

Are there business benefits in doing a footprint?

The value of embracing a sustainable strategy is demonstrated through increased profitability, increased efficiencies, reduced cost, increased market share, and reduced business risk, both reputational and financial. However, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Understanding your carbon footprint is the starting point to identify areas of the business where emissions, and hence costs, can [...]

Can my company use The Carbon Report?

The Carbon Report may be used by any company of any size and in almost any geography as the solution is based on the globally recognised, Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The solution manages the complexity of reporting your carbon emissions and can cater for complex corporate structures as well as equity based and control based reporting, [...]

Does it matter which country I am in?

The Carbon Report is based on the globally accepted Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard with emissions factors based on Defra’s September 2009 Guidelines as well as the latest factors published by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In most instances the only factor that differs between geographies is that of electricity grid emissions which are [...]

What standards and emissions factors are used?

The Carbon Report is based on the globally accepted Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard with emissions factors based on Defra’s July 2011 Guidelines as well as the latest factors published by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In most instances the only factor that differs between geographies is that of electricity grid emissions which are [...]

How do I establish the boundaries of my carbon footprint?

The GHG Protocol provides three different methods of auditing companies’ emissions, namely equity based, financial control or operational control. In most instances, unless legislation or an emissions trading scheme dictates otherwise, companies should choose operational control. The Carbon Report provides for the following organisational boundaries: Operational Control A company has operational control over an operation [...]

What are scopes?

Greenhouse gas emissions are categorised as direct and indirect; and grouped into Scopes for accounting and reporting. Direct Emissions – Scope 1 Emissions are categorised as ‘direct’ when they are generated from activities or sources within the reporting company’s organisational boundary and which the company owns or controls. Under the protocol these are called Scope [...]

Can I use The Carbon Report for the CRC?

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory carbon emissions trading scheme for all organisations in the United Kingdom using more than 6000MWh of electricity per year, equivalent to an energy bill of more GBP500 000 per annum. The policy has been developed with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and is aligned [...]

What is the Greenhouse Gas protocol?

The GHG Protocol Initiative is a multi-stakeholder partnership of businesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments, and others convened by the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Launched in 1998, the initiative’s mission is to develop internationally accepted greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting standards for business and to promote [...]

What is COP 17?

COP 17 is the seventeenth meeting of the congress of the parties (COP) since the UN Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) entered into force in 1995. The parties meet annually to assess progress in dealing with climate change and this year (2011) the meeting takes place in Durban, South Africa from 28 November to 9 [...]

How do we become carbon neutral?

Many companies that we work with want to become carbon neutral. What this means is that emissions that are created in business operations are neutralised through the purchase of a carbon offset. Because global warming is by definition a “global issue”, the purchased offset, if equivalent to the emissions produced renders the organisation in question [...]