NEW DELHI (MARCH 15, 2012) – The Greenhouse Gas Protocol launched two new standards today in New Delhi, India, to empower businesses to better measure, manage, and report their greenhouse gas emissions. Developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), the Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) and Product Life Cycle Standards enable companies to save money, reduce risks, and gain competitive advantages. The launch event was hosted by WRI, WBCSD, and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and was followed by local training workshops on the new standards.

This is the first time WRI and WBCSD have officially released GHG Protocol standards in India, though a growing number of Indian companies are already doing corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting. According to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2011 India Report, 57 companies submitted reports and 89% reported their GHG emissions using the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard or a protocol based on it. Given India’s significant role in the global economy, product and value chain management are becoming increasingly important, so the new standards bring multiple strategic insights and opportunities for Indian businesses.

“The new GHG Protocol standards allow Indian companies to identify and target new market opportunities for low-carbon business models and products,” said Pankaj Bhatia, Director, GHG Protocol, WRI. “Businesses will find that these standards provide state-of-art methods and tools that can be deployed not only to measure and manage GHG emissions, but also to track important co-benefits in the India context. This, in turn, can help Indian businesses reduce energy use and manage resources more effectively across the full value chain.”

Released internationally in October 2011, the Corporate Value Chain and Product Life Cycle Standards were created in response to businesses that wanted to better understand and measure their climate impacts beyond their own operations. The standards were developed with input from business leaders, NGOs, academics, and policymakers around the world. More than 2,300 participants from 55 countries contributed to the process, and 60 companies road tested the new standards. Businesses that use the GHG Protocol standards will be able to create better products and improve efficiency throughout the value chain.

“The launch of the new GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain and Product Life Cycle standards in India marks an important step in the global uptake of these important tools,” said Thierry Berthoud, Managing Director, Energy & Climate, WBCSD. “Businesses around the world increasingly understand that by measuring, reducing, and reporting on their full corporate GHG impact, they can save money, reduce risk, and drive new business opportunities.”

The Corporate Value Chain Standard reveals opportunities for companies to make more sustainable decisions about their activities and the products they produce, buy and sell. Large and small companies can look strategically at greenhouse gas emissions across their value chain, showing them where to focus limited resources to have the biggest impacts.

The Product Life Cycle Standard enables companies to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of an individual product. Covering materials, manufacturing, use and disposal, the product standard will help companies improve and design new products, and provide insights for more informed consumer choices.

“TERI has been working with the GHG Protocol since the first Corporate Standard was released in 2001, and we have worked on a pilot basis with various corporate houses to advise them about GHG emissions,” said Girish Sethi, Director-Industrial Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Technology, TERI. “These standards can help companies understand, measure, and manage their GHG emissions and work towards reducing their carbon footprints."

Prior to the launch in India, previous events have been held in New York, London, Tokyo, Beijing, and Durban, South Africa. Recognizing the significance of the new standards for emerging markets, the GHG Protocol is planning further launches and training events, including Brazil in the summer of 2012.

More information on the GHG Protocol standards is available at: www.ghgprotocol.org.

Media inquiries, please contact:
Debanjana Choudhuri De, Communications Research Associate, TERI, +91-8447084563, debanjana.de@teri.res.in
Lauren Zelin, Senior Media Officer, WRI, +1 202-729-7736, lzelin@wri.org
Peter Paul van de Wijs, Managing Director, Communications, WBCSD, +41 22 839 3141, vandewijs@wbcsd.org

The Greenhouse Gas Protocol
A global collaboration led by WBCSD and WRI. It provides the foundation for sustainable climate strategies and more efficient, resilient and profitable organizations. GHG Protocol standards are the most widely used accounting tools to measure, manage and report on greenhouse gas emissions. www.ghgprotocol.org

The World Resources Institute
WRI is a global environmental think tank that goes beyond research to put ideas into action. We work with governments, companies, and civil society to build practical solutions to urgent environmental challenges. WRI’s transformative ideas protect the Earth and promote development because sustainability is essential to meeting human needs and fulfilling human aspirations for the future. www.wri.org

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
WBCSD is a CEO-led organization of forward-thinking companies that galvanizes the global business community to create a sustainable future for business, society and the environment. Together with its members, the council applies its respected thought leadership and effective advocacy to generate constructive solutions and take shared action. Leveraging its strong relationships with stakeholders as the leading advocate for business, the council helps drive debate and policy change in favor of sustainable development solutions.

The WBCSD provides a forum for its 200 member companies - who represent all business sectors, all continents and a combined revenue of more than $7 trillion - to share best practices on sustainable development issues and to develop innovative tools that change the status quo. The Council also benefits from a network of 60 national and regional business councils and partner organizations, a majority of which are based in developing countries. www.wbcsd.org

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
From microbiology to global climate change, from smoke-filled rural kitchens to plush corporate boardrooms, from schoolchildren to heads of state—no sphere of human endeavor is unfamiliar to TERI. Headed by world-renowned economist and Head of the Nobel Prize winning UN Climate panel, Dr. R K Pachauri, TERI is best described as an independent, not-for-profit research institute focused on energy, environment, and sustainable development and devoted to efficient and sustainable use of natural resources. www.teriin.org/index.php

TERI-BCSD
For the past several years, TERI has been addressing issues related to sustainable development with Indian industry, by setting up TERI-BCSD (Business Council for Sustainable Development). Having succeeded to garner the support of over 100 member companies recently, TERI-BCSD India has received the fillip to evolve into a unique industry body mobilising the corporate sector in implementing the principles of sustainable development. bcsd.teri.res.in