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The Code provides companies, consumers and other stakeholders with guidance on how to:
- communicate the life cycle GHG emissions of products clearly, credibly on a consistent and comparable basis, and with sufficient supporting information; and
- support claims relating to reductions in life cycle GHG emissions associated with a specific product over time.
The Code was developed by the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust, with the assistance of consultants Arup, OneWorldStandards, the Pacific Institute and E4Tech. The Code builds on PAS 2050, the product carbon footprinting standard, to assess the lifecycle GHG emissions of goods and services (PAS 2050) but is separate from it.
Principles
The Code has been developed following an open, multi-stakeholder consultative process, following the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practice for Setting Social and Environmental Standards.
The following principles have guided the process:
- Clear and transparent procedures and governance
- Broad, open, multi-stakeholder consultation, including international input from all affected groups
- Balanced, consensus-based decision making, by an independent multi-stakeholder steering group.
Procedures and Governance
The Code development process was overseen and guided by a multi-stakeholder Reduction and Communication Steering Group (RCSG). The development work was carried out by a project team consisting of Carbon Trust staff and experts in the development of social and environmental standards including Arup, OneWorldStandards and the Pacific Institute. Consultants E4Tech supported the technical development. The development process was informed by feedback from stakeholders through consultation, pilot work with companies, market research and expert working groups.
Advice was sought from a selected group of expert stakeholders on the draft Procedures and Governance.
Comments on the draft Procedures and Governance can be downloaded here.
The Procedures and Governance have now been finalised and can be downloaded here.
Developing the Code of Good Practice for product GHG emissions and reduction claims
At the beginning of the development process the Code was structured in two separate documents:
- Product-related emissions Reduction Framework (PERF), which stated the requirements for companies to make credible reduction commitments and achievements on lifecycle GHG emissions of products, as measured using the PAS 2050; and
- Product-related emissions Communications Guidance (PECG), which provided guidance to support companies implementing the PAS 2050 or the PAS2050 and the PERF, to communicate their product(s) life cycle GHG emissions. The PECG was re-titled: Code of Good Practice for claims relative to product GHG emissions, after the first consultation.
Following feedback from the stakeholder consultation, the Steering Group decided on 21st July 2008 to merge both documents into what is now the “Code of Good Practice for Product GHG Emissions and Reduction Claims” (the Code).
The original documents (PERF and PECG) have undergone a series of consultations. The consultation documents and summary feedback can be downloaded here:
- Consultation on PERF Options paper, launched on 21st December 2007:
- PERF Options Paper
- Summary of stakeholder feedback
- Consultation on PERF v.1-3 and PECG v.1-0, launched on 3rd March 2008:
- PERF v.1-3
- PECG v.1-0
- Summary of stakeholder feedback
- Consultation of PERF v.2.0 and Code of Good Practice on claims relative to product lifecycle GHG emissions v.1-3 launched on 20th May 2008:
- PERF v.2.0
- Code of Good Practice on claims relative to product lifecycle GHG emissions v.1-3
- Summary of stakeholder feedback
PERF comments
Code of Good Practice comments
The last Reduction and Communications Steering Group took place on July 21st 2008. The Code was edited to reflect the decisions taken in this meeting, and the final version of the Code was published in October 2008.
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