My blog

GREENHOUSE GAS VERIFICATION

Verify your greenhouse gas (GHG) statements to ISO 14064-3 and various global GHG programs to meet regulatory requirements.

Benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) verification

Reporting of carbon emissions is becoming a standard practice for companies looking to comply with regulations, satisfy customer requests or demonstrate to stakeholders that they are measuring and managing their climate impact. 
New GHG programs are continuously being implemented around the globe by country or region, both voluntary and mandatory. Examples include he GHG emission report can only be verified with reasonable confidence if it does not contain material misstatements. After the site visit and office work are completed, the verification opinion is prepared by the verifier via the online software portal of the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization and submitted to the facility with an electronic signature. The process is completed by submitting the report approved by the facility authority to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization through the portal.
As GHG reporting becomes commonplace, it is important to assure that GHG statements contain accurate information. ISO 14064-3 provides a framework for evaluating GHG related statements and demonstrates commitment to reducing climate change.
Reference Standard: • ISO 14064-3: Greenhouse gases — Part 3: Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas statements
GHG Verification Methodology: Evidence-gathering procedures included but were not limited to:
• Interviews with relevant personnel of clients;
• Review of documentary evidence produced by clients;
• Review of clients data and information systems and methodology for collection, aggregation, analysis and review of information used to determine GHG emissions; and
• Audit of sample of data used by clients to determine GHG emissions

Verification process stages

Verification process of GHG emissions reports includes the following stages:

  • Obtaining of initial data, pre-estimation, tendering;
  • Signing of verification contract and agreement of due dates;
  • Compilation of strategic and risk analyses;
  • Compilation of verification and sampling plans;
  • Visiting of the installation, compilation of visiting report and submitting it to the operator;
  • Submitting verification report to the operator;
  • Confirming GHG emissions in the registry;
  • Dealing with appeals* / complaints** (if any).

Facility Category: Facility category is a classification that helps determine the level of detail or the effort required for monitoring to be undertaken. The category of the facility is decided according to the Annual Estimated Emission amount determined in the Monitoring Plan.

  • Category A (DE): Confirmed annual emissions equal to or less than 25,000 tons of CO2 (eq) in the reporting period, excluding CO2 originating from biomass, including transferred CO2,
  • Category A: Confirmed annual emissions equal to or less than 50,000 tons of CO2 (eq) in the reporting period, excluding CO2 originating from biomass, including transferred CO2,
  • Category B: Confirmed annual emission of more than 50,000 tons of CO2 (eq) and equal to or less than 500,000 tons of CO2 (eq) in the reporting period, excluding CO2 originating from biomass, including transferred CO2,
  • Category C: Confirmed annual emissions of more than 500,000 tons of CO2(eq) in the reporting period, excluding CO2 originating from biomass, including transferred CO2.

Monitoring, reporting and verification of EU ETS emissions

Monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions must be robust, transparent, consistent and accurate for the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) to work effectively.
Industrial facilities covered by the EU ETS are required to have an approved monitoring plan to monitor and report annual emissions. This plan is also part of the required operating permit for industrial facilities.
The annual monitoring, reporting and verification procedure (MRV), with all associated processes, is known as the ETS compliance cycle. The rules for the compliance cycle are set out in two regulations:

  • Monitoring and Reporting Regulation (MRR)
  • Accreditation and Verification Regulation (AVR)

Facilities within the scope of the Monitoring and Reporting Communiqué are obliged to submit their annual verified emission report to the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization by 30 April.

Monitoring Plan Preparation Process

The preparation of a transparent and verifiable monitoring method for an enterprise whose activities are specified within the scope of Annex-1 of the Regulation on the Monitoring of Greenhouse Gas Emissions is called Monitoring Plan.
After the Monitoring Plan is approved by the Ministry, it will be valid until the next decision of the Ministry. Improvements in monitoring plans may be requested if deemed necessary by the verifier or entity that has approved the Emissions Reports. In this case, the changes made in the monitoring plans must be re-approved by the Ministry.
The Monitoring Plan proposes a method for monitoring emissions and reporting the monitored emissions accurately under the Emissions Report. This monitoring method should be one that can be applied technically and financially at the facility. It is extremely important that the Monitoring Plan is correct and complete, as the wrong construction of the Monitoring Plan and forgetting some emission sources will result in a complete miscalculation of the emission amount.
The facility should first check whether it carries out the activities within the scope of ANNEX-1 of the Regulation. For this, all activities taking place in the facility are determined without any elimination. Afterwards, these activities are divided into two main titles: the burning of fuels and other activities listed in Annex-1 of the Regulation.

  • If there is no other activity in the facility other than the burning of fuels, the burning units are listed. Then, hazardous and domestic waste incineration units, units using biomass, and units with a rated thermal power below 3 megawatts (MW) are removed from these units (the unit that uses only biomass is defined as the unit that uses fossil fuel only at the start and end. Finally, the rated thermal power of the remaining units is summed up. If the total rated thermal power of these units exceeds 20 megawatts (MW), the units using only biomass and units with a rated thermal power below 3 megawatts (MW) are included in the Monitoring Plan. If the total rated thermal power does not exceed 20 megawatts (MW) thermal, the facility is not included in the ANNEX-1 of the Regulation, so the establishment does not need to prepare a Monitoring Plan.
  • If other activities are taking place in the facility other than burning fuels, it is checked whether these activities exceed the threshold specified in ANNEX-1 of the Regulation. If the activity or activities exceed the specified threshold value, it is decided that this facility falls within the scope of the Regulation after these activities are defined. In addition, the activities related to the burning of fuels carried out within the facility are also included in the Monitoring Plan. However, if this activity or activities do not exceed the threshold value specified in Annex-1 of the Regulation, it is determined that the facility is not within the scope of these activities. Then, the activities of burning the fuels in the facility are taken into consideration. In this case, the procedure for burning the fuels described above is followed.

Does the standard also define requirements for the communication part?

No, ISO 14046 only regulates the quantification aspects. However, a third party report is foreseen.

Scroll to Top