Background on carbon neutrality:
In recent years, there has been a growing trend of carbon neutrality. If you search for "carbon neutrality" on the Internet, you will find that everything from national-level carbon neutrality, such as Japan and South Korea announcing carbon neutrality in 2050, to public life Carbon neutrality at the food, clothing, housing and transportation level, such as: carbon-neutral meals, carbon-neutral shampoo, carbon-neutral marathons, etc. As the public attaches great importance to carbon reduction, countries, enterprises, and individuals have begun to formulate plans to reduce carbon emissions. Carbon targets, planned reduction actions, and carbon neutrality are the carbon reduction targets currently adopted by most entities.
In order to cope with the impact of extreme climate, entities around the world have invested money, manpower, and time in carbon reduction. However, substantial carbon reduction is not an easy task and is difficult to implement in most cases. Therefore, "carbon offset" is very important for carbon neutrality. and played an important role.
According to the definition of carbon neutrality in PAS 2060:2014, "the greenhouse gas emissions related to the subject matter during a specified period result in no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere." Entities can achieve carbon neutrality by reducing and offsetting their carbon footprint through "self-reduction" and "external offsets". The "self-reduction" part is particularly important. It must be reduced to the point where it can no longer be reduced. At this time, the emissions that cannot be reduced will be offset through "external offsets".
"Self-reduction" is usually achieved by investing in new technologies, new equipment, and new management methods. In practice, it is often a step-by-step reduction. Therefore, carbon neutrality is essentially a long-term carbon management plan. Therefore, a reduction plan should be planned to properly manage the carbon footprint of the subject matter. If an entity has no substantial reduction plan and only achieves carbon neutrality through "external offsets", it may be labeled as "greenwashing".
Standard architecture:
There are currently three common guidelines or standards for carbon neutrality. The order of time is as follows: the "Carbon Neutrality Implementation and Declaration Guidelines" announced by the Ministry of Environment of China in 2011, and the "PAS" formulated by BSI Standards Co., Ltd. in 2014. 2060 (Reference Specification for the Implementation of Carbon Neutrality)", and "ISO 14068-1 Climate Change Management - Transition to Net Zero - Part 1: Carbon Neutral" published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in November 2023 and".
According to the PAS 2060:2014 standard, there are 11 chapters and appendices. The chapters provide the model, process, declaration method, etc. for implementing carbon neutrality. The most important one is that entities should develop and write a "carbon footprint management plan." "Painting" echoes that the spirit of carbon neutrality does not end through external exchange (only buying carbon rights), but must be invested in reducing emissions; the appendix is an important auxiliary content during implementation, especially in practice When executed online, Form B must be made public and freely available.
The expected benefits of using the PAS 2060 specification include increasing consumer protection awareness, increasing climate action, providing accurate and verifiable carbon neutrality declarations, reducing doubts and confusion among trading partners, enhancing entity carbon management capabilities, and increasing public awareness of climate action. choice.
Table 1: Structure of PAS 2060:2014
This specification can be implemented by any entity, and the subject matter can be defined by the entity. The more common ones are organized carbon neutrality, product carbon neutrality, activity carbon neutrality, etc., and even individuals can also implement carbon neutrality; the greenhouse gases controlled are "Kyoto" The seven greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6, NF3) regulated in the Protocol are the same as those defined in China’s Climate Change Response Act.
Entities can use carbon inventory standards such as ISO 14064-1 or ISO 14067 international standards to quantify their carbon footprint, and then use carbon rights to offset the remaining emissions and declare carbon neutrality. Entities can choose to enhance the credibility of their carbon neutrality implementation through third-party verification or verification, but they can also self-certify.
One of the important keys to achieving carbon neutrality is carbon offsets. According to Chapter 9 of the standard, there will be detailed regulations, such as the methodology, type, quantity, and adequacy of information for carbon offsets. Reliable carbon rights must be used in order to achieve this. Make an exchange. However, the recent negative news about carbon rights in the voluntary carbon market has led to the possibility that third-party verification units have no confidence in the carbon rights and believe that they are risky and do not recognize the carbon rights as meeting carbon neutral standards. Therefore, the selection of carbon rights This will be an issue that entities should pay special attention to.
After completing carbon neutrality, the product can continue to maintain carbon neutrality within a specific period of time. Therefore, it can continuously conduct inventory, reduction, offset, and declaration during the implementation period set by the entity, becoming a long-term carbon management plan and Carbon Neutral Cycle.
Conclusion:
In order to mitigate extreme climate, carbon neutrality is one of the important means of reduction. Only through long-term investment and planning can we achieve true carbon reduction and true net zero. Substantial carbon reduction is the key to controlling global warming. key.
References:
1. BSI, April 30, 2014, implementation of carbon neutrality reference specification (PAS 2060:2014)
2.BSI, May 2021, Net-zero emissions and carbon neutral development trends
3. ESG vision, October 16, 2023, carbon rights scandal: 90% of the forest carbon rights certified by VCS were fake! ?
Author: Wu Yunan, Consultant of the Corporate Sustainability Group of the Quality and Environmental Safety Department of the Plastic Industry Technology Development Center
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