Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
over 25,000 metric tons of CO2-e per year will
be submitting annual emission data to the EPA.
Under this new regulation all facilities will
have to submit their first emissions report to the
EPA in March 2011. The data will be submitted
via an electronic reporting system that they will
launch in January 2011. Similar to the SEC ruling,
it will be very useful to examine this program once
it has run for several years to determine whether
emissions reductions are occurring (United States
Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).
provide the right types of incentives to ensure a
low carbon future.
We set out to determine whether voluntary
emissions reduction schemes such as C4C work.
This study concludes that there is no way to deter-
mine whether C4C works because the data that is
being reported is incomplete. Since companies are
unable to measure their emissions accurately, it is
unclear whether they are properly managing these
emissions. With regards to reducing greenhouse
gas emissions it is clear that the details really do
matter. The detailed accounting aspects of emis-
sions reduction are what will lead to success or
failure in this field. Until there are uniform regu-
lations and detailed guidelines on exactly how
each and every entity can report and reduce their
emissions, it will be hard to determine whether
real emissions reductions are occurring, or whether
they are just being shifted to different entities.
Despite the issues with voluntary reduction
programs, these programs do have an important
role in the climate change space. They prepare
companies for climate change regulation by teach-
ing them how to count and report their emissions.
Companies are able to practice setting targets and
attempting to reach these targets. In addition,
emissions programs help companies to identify
how they could benefit financially from reducing
their emissions through energy savings.
Overall, the fact that there are so many vol-
untary reduction programs, and that they have so
many members, is exciting. These programs dem-
onstrate the support of the business community
for reducing GHG emissions and addressing the
challenge of climate change. It will be interest-
ing to see how these voluntary programs evolve,
as companies become more carbon savvy and
regulation becomes more of a reality.
Non-English COPs
Of the C4C companies, there were a few companies
that did not appear to have disclosed significant
numbers on climate change, however the reports
were not in English so we could not say defini-
tively whether they did indeed disclose. Closer
examination and translation of the sustainability-
related publications/websites of these companies
could provide interesting information on emissions
numbers and reduction plans.
CONCLUSION
It is an exciting time to investigate the emerging
business models for carbon foot printing and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Although
many businesses and international bodies are
interested in managing their greenhouse gas
emissions, they have considerable learning to do
before they will be able to succeed in this task.
Without the advice of external consultants, most
businesses lack the knowledge and understanding
of their own greenhouse gas emissions; therefore
they are unable to plan a clear path to emissions
reduction. In addition, even a predominant in-
ternational organization like the UN has not yet
been able to create a rigorous carbon reduction
program. This may be yet another indication that
voluntary emissions reduction programs do not
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the United Na-
