Purpose
Climate change is a significant issue of the 21st century and is recognized as a leading threat to global security. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recognizes the consequences of increased levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) within our atmosphere as a result of man’s activities. In 1997, 37 countries committed to reduce their GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. Since then, international institutions have launched numerous initiatives regarding climate change, in particular to encourage the reduction of fossil fuel based energy consumption and to promote the use of renewable energy sources. Legislative frameworks are evolving in several countries to drive further governmental and corporate action to reduce GHG emissions. These factors lead to increasing obligations for companies, and to an increased burden and substantial costs for the aerospace value chain, due to the complexity and variability of the information and requirements needed.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Council for Sustainable Business Development (WCSBD) developed The GHG Protocol, a framework for GHG emissions accounting for and reporting. Now a universal framework, many companies, organizations and institutions worldwide use The GHG Protocol to inform their internal practices, including many aerospace companies.
An IAEG Work Group (WG3) has been established to address the issue of GHG accounting and reporting by aerospace companies, specifically to promote industry-wide GHG emissions accounting and reporting and to drive consistent practices therein. The first deliverable from this group is the GHG Reporting Guidance for the Aerospace Industry – A Supplement to the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. This guidance provides a common framework of rules, methodologies, vocabulary and relevant recommendations for GHG accounting and reporting to promote consistent, complete and accurate reporting across the Aerospace industry.
Objective(s)
- Promote industry-wide adoption of consistent emissions accounting and reporting practices by aerospace companies worldwide through leadership and documented voluntary consensus standards.
- Reduce aerospace industry costs and burden through improved consistency achieved by a standardized aerospace greenhouse gas accounting and reporting process.
- Encourage wider reporting across the industry (membership / value chain to disclose publically scope 1 and 2 and selected scope 3 emissions).
- Provide a common approach to normalization/carbon intensity (accounting for the changing size of a business, outsourcing and inflation).
- Enable consistent GHG emissions communication/reporting within the aerospace supply chain, foster consistent public reporting, and allow for the aerospace industry to pursue future activities pertaining to GHG emissions accounting and reporting.
Factsheet
This factsheet produced by the International Aerospace Environment Group (IAEG) Work Group 3 (WG3) describes the challenges, which the Aerospace and Defence industry face in relation to greenhouse gas (GHG) management and reporting, highlighting the risks that failure to undertake practical steps on GHG management and reporting could cause for businesses in the sector.
The factsheet provides an overview of GHG protocol and an introduction to emission scopes, and those categories, which have been identified as material for the Aerospace and Defence industry by the WG3.
The factsheet also summarizes the work that the IAEG WG3 has conducted in recent years, including;
- GHG reporting guidance for the Aerospace & Defence industry
- Tools and guidance on calculation on scope 3 emissions from purchased goods & services and capital goods.
- Launch of a pilot program on guidance for the calculation of scope 3 emissions from use of sold product in civil aviation.
Did you know IAEG hosted a webinar on Greenhouse Gas Reporting and Management? If you missed it you can watch it here.
Publications
The International Aerospace Environmental Group (IAEG) has released several guidances and tool to support Aerospace companies for the reporting of their GHG emissions:
GHG Reporting Guidance for the Aerospace Industry – A Supplement to the GHG Protocol Accounting and Reporting Standard
This Guidance is a voluntary consensus guide for aerospace companies and is a supplement to GHG Protocol’s Corporate Standard. It provides industry-relevant clarification and direction for GHG accounting and reporting to promote consistency and accuracy in GHG emissions reporting to facilitate transparency within the industry and value chain and enable relevant benchmarks and comparisons.
Aerospace Industry Tool for Calculating Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Purchased Goods & Services and Capital Goods
This Tool provides an approach for calculating GHG emissions from Scope 3 categories of Purchased Goods & Services and Capital Goods in the aerospace industry.
- Methodology for calculating emissions from purchased goods and services and capital goods
- User guide for supporting calculation tool for purchased goods and services and capital goods
- Calculation tool for purchased goods and services and capital goods
- Webinar on use of the calculation tool
Guidance for Calculating Civil and Military Aviation Scope 3 Emissions: Category 11 - Use of Sold Products
This Guidance is a voluntary consensus guide which focuses on civil and military aviation applications and is meant to complement the GHG Corporate Protocol Scope 3 emissions accounting and reporting standard and
the associated technical guidance for calculating Scope 3, Category 11 emissions. This guidance describes the industry-specific methodology and provides discussions on the input data needed for applying the methodology, as well as examples illustrating how the methodology may be applied for different types of manufacturers in the industry.
- Factsheet on guidance for Calculating Civil Aviation Scope 3 Emissions
- White Paper Guidance for Calculating Aviation Scope 3 Emissions: Category 11 - Use of Sold Products
Who Can Use This Guidance
- Aerospace companies and their suppliers
- GHG reporting programs
- Customers seeking to develop tools or metrics for assessing the GHG emissions from aerospace companies
Contact: Jamie Reyes