Carbon Footprint

How to report greenhouse gas emissions generated during the life cycle of a product or service

Carbon footprintThe Carbon Footprint (CFP) is used to report the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to a product/service throughout the life cycle (LCA). The CFP covers the overall GHG emissions of all stages of the life of the product/service, depending on the CFP-PCR (CFP - Product Category Rules) or PCR (if any), which provide rules, requirements and guidelines for a defined category of products/services.

The scope of a CFP verification concerns the product/service of a single company (product CFP) and the CFP Systematic Approach certification, where the organization can independently implement and publish CFP without the involvement of a third-party verifier for each CFP produced.

The reporting of GHG emissions, verified by RINA according to the applicable standards, allows:

- Continuously monitor the GHG emissions associated with a product/service
- Identify possible improvement strategies, determining the most critical elements according to GHG emissions
- Enhance the company's attention to environmental issues
- Benefit from a more transparent relationship with customers.

Why choose RINA?

RINA Services S.p.A. has gained many years of experience in verifying LCA analyses, which are the basis of the Carbon Footprint of the product/service, the Water Footprint (WFP) and the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD).
RINA is an ISO 14067 verification body accredited by ACCREDIA (Accreditation Certificate no. 0002VV), without geographical limitations, and can therefore provide the service for any type of organization, wherever it is located.

Verification procedure

The process follows the following steps:

- Opening of a contract with the customer: acceptance of the offer made following receipt of the informative questionnaire
- Documentary verification: strategic and risk analysis, evaluation of the CFP study, data collection and calculation methodologies
- Verification activities: on-site verification of data acquisition and modelling of calculations carried out with the software used for analysis
- Reporting: preparation of the verification report and the draft of the opinion/certificate (in case of certification of the CFP Systematic Approach) of verification;
- independent technical review of the verification activities carried out.

Our experts answer to the most frequently questions

The possible reporting boundaries are: from cradle to grave in case of complete carbon footprint or from cradle to gate in case of partial carbon footprint.

- From cradle to grave: in a complete carbon footprint analysis, all greenhouse gas emissions across the entire life cycle are considered, from the production phase (cradle) to the end of the life cycle or disposal (grave). 

- From cradle to gate: in a partial carbon footprint analysis, only the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production or creation of the product up to the time it is ready to be deployed or used (gate) are considered. This approach focuses mainly on emissions during the production phase, excluding later stages such as use and disposal.

The rules for defining the reporting boundaries applicable to a given type of product/service are usually specified in the applicable CFP-PCR or PCR. Where there are no CFP-PCR or PCR, the organization can independently establish the boundaries to be applied.
If an organization decides to report the carbon footprint of all its activities, the reference standard is the ISO 14064-1: 2018 standard, and the study to be prepared is an inventory of greenhouse gases.

Regulatory focus

In relation to the growing sensitivity towards the problem of climate change, calculating the Carbon Footprint (according to the applicable schemes such as the international standard ISO 14067: 2018 or the PAS 2050: 2011 and GHG PROTOCOL standards) is part of the new frontier of environmental reporting for the various products/services of companies, also given by the evolution of environmental policies. 

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Resources

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CLAIM rule

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Rule appendix

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General contract conditions

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Rules for the use of the RINA certification logo

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Complaints, observations and appeals