Carbon Trust PAS 2050 Guide – How to assess the carbon footprint of goods and services

“Carbon footprint” is a term used to describe the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions caused by a particular activity or entity, and thus a way for organizations and individuals to assess their contribution to climate change. Understanding these emissions, and where they come from, is necessary in order to reduce them. In the past, companies wanting to measure their carbon footprints have focused on their own emissions, but now they are increasingly concerned with emissions across their entire supply chain.

Supply chain GHG emissions, which include those associated with processes not controlled by the company itself, can be measured at either the company level or the level of an individual product.

While PAS 2050 provides a standard method for assessing a product’s carbon footprint, this guide, “Guide to PAS 2050″, will help businesses to implement the standard by offering specific and practical guidance. It is not a replacement for PAS 2050 and should always be used alongside PAS 2050. There are benefits to both company- and product-level supply chain emissions assessment; however, PAS 2050 and this guide focus on product-level emissions only.

This guide aims to:

- Enable companies of all sizes, and from all industries, to assess the life cycle carbon footprint of their products and to identify emission reduction opportunities

- Share best practices, tools and frameworks for calculating product-level GHG emissions and prioritizing opportunities to reduce emissions

PAS 2050 and this guide focus exclusively on GHG emissions created during a product’s life cycle.

Visit the Carbon Trust website (http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/Pages/Default.aspx) to download supporting documents such as the PAS 2050 Specifications, the Guide to PAS 2050, and the Code of Good Practice.

Paul Tasner
Reclipse Group, Inc.