Climate change is an issue that affects us all. Equally,
it is an issue that we can all affect.
The urgency to address climate change and make serious changes to
our behaviour is balanced by the need to ensure that those changes
are relevant and offer a true long-term benefit to the planet. The
responsibility for developing and implementing strategies to combat
climate change lies with us all, whether we are governments,
organisations or individuals.
LRQA Climate Change Services
At Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), our focus is on
helping our clients to assure that their sustainability strategies
and climate change assertions are trustworthy, thus ensuring they
are able to receive a fair reward for their sustainability
improvements from financial markets, regulators and
customers.
Specifically, LRQA can assure that greenhouse gas emissions claims
at an organisational, plant, project, or even product level are
verifiable, accurate and reliable. Most importantly, we deliver
independent, impartial and trustworthy opinions - vital to the long
term credibility and success of greenhouse gas emissions reduction
programmes.
A Bit of LRQA Climate Change History
In 1988 we developed the first Environmental Assurance audit
process. Building on that expertise, in 1990 we verified the first
ever independently scrutinised environmental report for Norsk Hydro
UK Limited. In 1995, LRQA was among the first certification and
verification bodies to be awarded accreditation for assessment of
the environmental management system standard, BS 7750 and
verification of the EC Regulation, EMAS. We were the first body to
achieve full scope of accreditation to provide these services in
all industrial, commercial and public sectors. When ISO 14001
superseded BS 7750 in 1996, we were also among the first to be
accredited.
Over the past 20 years, we have played a significant role in
developing global standards and processes to help protect the
planet, including our work with those with greatest influence, be
they individuals, corporations, governmental and non-governmental
organisations. Most recently, our team, acting on behalf of the
Voluntary Carbon Standard Steering Committee, authored the
Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS 2007) which will help accelerate the
adoption of emissions management beyond the regulated sector.
LRQA Services - Assesment & Verification
Verification
Verification against emissions trading schemes, including:
Assessment and Verification to
European and international standards,
including:
-
ISO
14001 - Environmental Management Systems Standard
- BS 8555 / Acorn Scheme - Phased implementation of
ISO
14001
- LRQA PRISM - Phased implementation of
ISO
14001 for organisations with existing ISO9001 or OHSAS18001
systems
- EC Regulation 761/2001 - Eco-management and Audit Scheme
(
EMAS)
-
ISO
14064, part 1 and part 2
- Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS)
LRQA Services - Other and future
Kyoto Protocol mechanisms (validation &
verification):
Carbon Management:
Furthermore, in light of a near-universal desire among our clients
to respond to the challenges of climate change, LRQA is working
actively to ensure that mechanisms and methodologies for carbon
management are made available for voluntary participation and that
the integrity of these schemes is maintained for corporations,
governments and consumers.
PAS 2050:
We are also currently involved in a number of emerging developments
in validation and verification services world wide, including PAS
2050, carbon foot printing and labelling and the Carbon Reduction
Commitment (CRC).
Thought Leadership Initiatives
Voluntary Carbon Standard
Dr. Anne-Marie Warris, LRQA's expert
on greenhouse gases, has recently authored the Voluntary Carbon
Standard (VCS).
The Voluntary Carbon Standard Steering Committee,
made up of the following organizations:
International Emissions Trading
Association (IETA),
The Climate Group
(TCG), The World
Economic Forum (WEF) and the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
retained Dr Warris to author the standard, based on their
findings.
The VCS will bring assurance and credibility to the voluntary
carbon market, ensuring consumer confidence and innovation.
Dr Warris is the Vice Chair of the UK Emissions Trading Group, and
is an industry expert on carbon emissions and the European Union
Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). She is also the
climate
change section editor of
www.businessassurance.com,
where you can find some of her recent
blog posts, as
well as other insightful articles on relevant climate change
topics.
What Assures Consumers?
We are the sponsors of an ongoing programme of global research
entitled
What
Assures Consumers?, supported by Marks and Spencer and the
Co-Op. The research investigates consumers' needs and demands for
environmental assurance - findings which are offering valuable
insights for standards-setters in environmental labelling and
footprinting.
Conducted by AccountAbility and Consumers International, 2007's
Climate Change Report showed that 70% of consumers want climate
change claims made by businesses to be verified by independent
third parties.
www.businessassurance.com
We sponsor the
www.businessassurance.com
climate change podcast series. Each episode focuses on an issue
relevant to the ongoing climate change debate, including
emissions
trading,
carbon labelling, and the launch of the Voluntary Carbon
Standard. We will keep you up to date here as the series continues.
For a full list of all podcasts and transcripts, visit the
climate
change podcast section. Some of the experts that we have
interviewed include Yvo De Boer, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC,
Jos Delbeke, head of the EU Directorate on Climate Change and David
Cameron, the leader of the UK's Conservative Party.
As a result of these involvements in the wider climate change
debate, our range of services and capabilities is constantly
evolving. If your organisation has a sustainability or climate
change challenge please do get in touch with our team.
Next Steps
To progress your enquiry further and to find out how LRQA can
work with you to meet your organisations climate change objectives
please: