The month of October saw the CD-release of the final version of the India program guide by the Indian Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Climate Change, Mr Shyam Saran. In his remarks, Mr Saran emphasized the importance of businesses taking the initiative to deal with climate change and encouraged public-private partnerships. The guide provides guidance and examples to assist companies in accounting for, quantification and tracking of their greenhouse gas emissions using internationally accepted Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Standard.

The guide was released as part of the India GHG Inventorisation program, which is a partnership between the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the World Resources Institute. The program was officially launched in May 2008 and will serve as a crucial step in establishing a national model on emissions accounting, and in creating business and institutional capacity to undertake comprehensive GHG inventories and programs that can serve multiple business objectives nationally as well as globally.

The GHG Protocol team and CII also conducted a training program for representatives from 15 cement sector companies on October 18, 2008. The day-long training program included the Cement Sector Initiative (CSI) CO2 protocol as well as basic corporate accounting concepts. The training also covered how to ensure a high quality inventory through the implementation of an inventory management plan and reporting requirements under the India program. The workshop generated a lot of discussion about the importance of accounting, how credible accounting of emissions can help in attracting buyers of emission reduction credits, and the technicalities of implementing the protocol in a plant. These cement plants will be the first ones to implement the program and produce an inventory.