PAS 2070:2013+A1:2014

This standard PAS 2070:2013+A1:2014 Specification for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of a city. Direct plus supply chain and consumption-based methodologies is classified in these ICS categories:

• 13.020.30 Environmental impact assessment

1.1 Two methodologies

PAS 2070 specifies requirements for the assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a city or an urban area using two distinct methodologies. These recognize cities as both consumers and producers of goods and services, and provide a complementary insight of a city’s GHG emissions. The GHG emissions assessment methodologies are:

1. a direct plus supply chain (DPSC) methodology;

2. a consumption-based (CB) methodology.

The DPSC methodology captures territorial GHG emissions and those associated with the largest supply chains serving cities, many of which are associated with city infrastructures. It covers direct GHG emissions from activities within the city boundary and indirect GHG emissions from the consumption of grid-supplied electricity, heating and/or cooling, transboundary travel and the supply chains from consumption of key goods and services produced outside the city boundary (e.g. water supply, food, building materials).

The DPSC methodology builds on the Global protocol for community-scale greenhouse gas emissions (GPC) [3], developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI), C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability to include a wider range of indirect GHG emissions, and is consistent with emission sources covered by the GPC.

The CB methodology captures direct and life cycle GHG emissions for all goods and services consumed by residents of a city, i.e. GHG emissions are allocated to the final consumers of goods and services, rather than to the original producers of those GHG emissions. The CB methodology does not assess the impacts of the production of goods and services within a city that are exported for consumption outside the city boundary, visitor activities, or services provided to visitors.

A purely territorial accounting methodology, which focuses on all GHG sources within a boundary is not provided, but GHG emissions within the city boundary can be calculated as a subset of the DPSC methodology.

1.2 GHG emissions sources and boundaries

PAS 2070 specifies requirements for identifying the assessment boundaries, the sources of GHG emissions to be included, the data requirements for carrying out the analysis, and the calculation of the results to develop a city-scale GHG inventory.

GHG emissions of organizations are generally categorized as either Scope 1, Scope 2 or Scope 3 emissions. These categorizations are based upon where the GHG emissions arise and their relationship with the inventorying body. Such definitions are important for the attribution of GHG emissions that occur outside the city, to activities within the city’s geopolitical boundary. The DPSC methodology uses the definitions for Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions (see 3.1.30 to 3.1.32) from the GHG Protocol [4] [developed by World Resources Institute (WRI)/World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)] as adopted for community-scale use in the GPC [3]/IEAP [5]. Figure 1 provides an overview of emission sources in relation to scope and illustrates the life cycle perspective taken for the assessment of goods, services and activities.

The adapted Scope definitions cannot be applied when calculating the consumption-based emissions using the CB methodology as the data are aggregated across Scopes.

Figure 1 GHG emissions sources in cities in relation to Scope 1, 2 and 3

SOURCE Adapted from Figure 1 of Carbon footprinting for climate change management in cities [6].

1.3 Using PAS 2070

PAS 2070 is for use by organizations or people assessing GHG emissions of a city or an urban area, such as municipal or national governments, academic researchers, consultants, and others.

Guidance explaining how to apply the standard to measure city-wide GHG emissions, using London as an example is given in Application of PAS 2070 – London, United Kingdom [7]. It supplements PAS 2070 by providing a detailed case study of the application of PAS 2070 to London. It includes guidance on data collection, quantification, and provides a template for reporting.

NOTE Assessment of GHG emissions using PAS 2070 does not imply that municipal authorities have sole responsibility for these GHG emissions. Rather the aim of an assessment using PAS 2070 is to quantify and increase understanding of GHG emissions of cities.