Title: SETTING THE STANDARD IN GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT
1CLIMATE LEADERS
SETTING THE STANDARD IN GREENHOUSE GAS MANAGEMENT
Indiana P2 Conference September 16, 2009 Melissa
Hulting, U.S. EPA Region 5
2What is Climate Leaders?
- Climate Leaders is a voluntary EPA program to
assist companies in reducing their greenhouse gas
emissions. - Climate Leaders works with companies to develop
credible corporate GHG strategies. - 3 critical components to credible GHG strategy
- Complete Corporate-Wide GHG Inventory
- Develop Inventory Management Plan (IMP)
- Set Aggressive Corporate-Wide GHG Reduction Goal
- Annual reporting to EPA creates lasting record of
accomplishments
3What are the benefits to your company?
- Why should you join?
- Free technical assistance for inventory and
reporting - A credible GHG inventory and reduction goal
- Public recognitionIdentifies your company as a
corporate environmental leader
4Who are our Partners?
- Over 280 Partners of all sizes in many sectors,
with operations in all 50 states - Half are Fortune 500 companies, but the number of
small and medium-sized companies is growing - Total annual U.S. revenue of Partners represents
12 of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product - Largest corporate greenhouse gas goal-setting
program, with over 8 of U.S. GHG emissions - Goals pledged in program reduce annual emissions
equivalent to 9 million cars
5Growing Popularity of the Program
- 100 companies joined the program in 2008, and we
are on target to have just as many join in 2009. - Administrations attention on climate change and
energy use - Many companies are joining to understand and
manage their carbon footprint, then set a
reduction goal to lessen their impact on the
global environment.
6The Company We Keep
7The Company We Keep In INDIANA!!!!
- "Cummins joining Climate Leaders is the right
thing to do from both a stewardship and business
perspective. Businesses like Cummins can and
should take concrete steps to assess
opportunities for emissions reductions, establish
and meet emission reduction objectives and invest
in new, more efficient products, practices and
technologies. Christine Vujovich, VP, Marketing
and Environmental Policy. - The EPA Climate Leaders program is an excellent
forum for Peerless to proceed with our
environmental improvements and goals. The very
nature of our products enable us to play a
leading role in saving tons of carbon each year
by the selection and optimum design of our
premium high volume water movement systems. - Berry Plastics is committed to managing our
carbon footprint through five sustainability
focus areas within our corporation emissions,
energy, waste, materials, and packaging. Joining
EPA's Climate Leaders program will allow Berry
Plastics to establish our emissions baseline and
create a corporate strategy around emissions
reduction.
8Program Participation Steps
Partner Joins Program
EPA assists Partner in developing inventory and
inventory management plan (generally within 1
year)
Partner sets corporate wide 5-10 year GHG
reduction goal, domestic or global
Partner may participate in meetings, public
outreach, press events, etc.
Partner reports annual inventory data to EPA and
documents progress toward goal
Partner Achieves Goal
9First ComponentDevelop a Customized Inventory
Based on International WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol
- Required
- Corporate-wide (all U.S. operations)
- 6 major GHGs
- Direct emissions
- Indirect emissions from electricity, heat, and
steam
- Optional
- International operations
- Offset projects
- Employee travel and commuting
- Product transport
10Second ComponentCreate an Inventory Management
Plan
Institutionalizes process Partners develop and
implement an IMP or a similar collection of
Standard Operating Procedures and document
process for EPA
- EPA provides checklist of components for good IMP
to use as guideline when preparing documentation - EPA offers technical assistance to help companies
complete IMP documentation
11Ensuring Credibility of Inventory Data and
Management Process
- EPA technical assistance for inventory/IMP
development and reporting process - Desktop reviews of corporate level inventory data
and how IMP components are addressed - Onsite review of implementation of IMP
- CL does not offer third-party verification, but
meeting reporting requirements will ensure that
credible/verifiable inventory process is in place - Third-party verification option (must meet same
criteria as CL reporting requirements)
12Third ComponentSet an aggressive, long-term GHG
reduction goal
- EPA offers flexibility in setting a GHG reduction
goal because every company has a unique set of
emissions sources and reduction opportunities.
The goal must be - Corporate-wide (domestic or global)
- Based on the most recent base year for which data
is available - Achieved over 5 to 10 years
- Expressed as an absolute GHG reduction or as a
decrease in GHG intensity - Aggressive compared to the projected GHG
performance for the Partners sector - Climate Leaders publicizes goals through a
national advertising campaign, web site,
marketing materials and speaking engagements
13Types of GHG Reduction Goals
- Absolute
- Applied Materials pledges to reduce total global
GHG emissions by 20 percent from 2006 to 2012. - Normalized
- Interface, Inc. pledges to reduce U.S. GHG
emissions by 15 percent per unit of production
from 2001 to 2010. - Index
- Ball Corporation pledges to reduce total U.S. GHG
emissions by 16 percent per production index from
2002 to 2012. - Net Zero (Carbon Neutral)
- Melaver, Inc. pledges to achieve net zero U.S.
GHG emissions by 2006 and maintain that level
through 2009.
14National Public Recognition
- Climate Leaders Partners
- receive high-level recognition via
- Press events
- Page on CL web site
- Articles in local, national, and trade magazines
- Partner conferences, newsletters, speaking
opportunities - Special advertising opportunities in Forbes, Natl
Geo, Economist - Public Service Announcements (PSAs)
- 2007-8 campaign audience gt10 million in Forbes,
Kiplingers, Audobon, Fast Company
15Program Positioning
- External
- Largest greenhouse gas goal setting program
- Other initiatives are registries
- Internal
- Energy Star and GPP can be components of Climate
Leaders - Many voluntary programs are looking at climate
- CL will operate as a complement to
legislation/regulation
16Corporate Benefits
- Cost savings from energy efficiency IBM has
saved 74 million from 2002-2006 - Preparation for regulation, understanding of
policy - Engage with other partner companies demonstrating
climate leadership - Credible climate management strategy
- Internal support and alignment for environmental
goals - Good corporate citizen important to
shareholders, customers, employees - Green reputation
17Investor Rankings
- Benefits of Climate Leaders participation in
investor measurements of risk - Carbon Disclosure Project
- Backed with 57 trillion in assets from 385
global - investors
- Dow Jones Sustainability Index, KLD Global
- Climate Index, Calvert Funds
- Climate Leaders participation is one criteria for
inclusion - Climate Counts Scorecard
- Climate Leaders participation avoids the red
zone
18New for 2009
- Free webinar series www.epa.gov/climateleaders/ev
ents - Offsets guidance and project checklist
- Meetings and conferences guidance
- Annual conference for Partners December in DC
- Agenda of new Administration
19Contact Information
- Melissa Hulting
- EPA Region 5 Climate Change Coordinator
- (312) 886-2265
- hulting.melissa_at_epa.gov
- Verena Radulovic
- EPA Climate Leaders
- (202) 343-9845
- radulovic.verena_at_epa.gov
- www.epa.gov/climateleaders