GHG CleanStart Registry: A registry to help you showcase carbon neutral commitments and actions

Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has become a business reality. Public pressure continues to mount. Carbon emitting companies are coming under increasing scrutiny from investors. Becoming carbon neutral is an integral step to help meet the climate change challenge.

Achieving carbon neutrality does not net emissions to zero, it offsets the emissions with emission reductions outside the corporate boundary. There are four general steps:

• Quantifying your carbon footprint
• Reducing your own emissions as much as possible
• Purchasing renewable energy to reduce your impact further where and if economically viable to your business operation
• Purchasing carbon offsets from emission reducing activities that others have undertaken

Why CSA’s GHG CleanStart™ Registry?

• CSA’s GHG CleanStart™ Registry is a credible and transparent service for reporting your steps to achieve carbon neutrality.  To be eligible to post on the registry, you are expected to follow the internationally recognized ISO 14064 series of standards for greenhouse gas inventories and reporting. CSA staff, acting as World Secretariat, helped to facilitate the development of ISO 14064.
• ISO 14064–1 specifies principles, requirements and provides guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals
• ISO 14064–3 specifies principles, requirements and guidance for those conducting the verification of an organization’s inventory.
• The Registry offers guidance and tools to help you understand better the processes involved in establishing your carbon footprint and the steps involved in reducing, offsetting, and finally, eliminating (retiring) emissions (removal from circulation).
• It allows you to publicly showcase your efforts and gain recognition for your achievements.

What is CSA’s GHG CleanStart™ Registry?

• The Registry is web-based and accessible world-wide.
• It is a listing for organizations, governments, individuals and other users to showcase how they have measured their GHG inventory (carbon footprint) and how they plan to reduce it, and
• It lists organizations, governments, individuals and other users and/or events, business lines or products that can verifiably showcase their carbon neutral commitments and actions.

The registration and listing design of CSA’s GHG CleanStart™ Registry is intended to provide a 'one-stop' location to help businesses, organizations, individuals and other interested parties:

• learn what it means to become carbon neutral and how to do it
• develop and document commitments, actions, results and recognitions associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
• register GHG inventories, GHG assertions, and GHG claims in an open, transparent way, consistent with the principles of ISO 14064

Visit the "registration process" page which outlines the GHG CleanStart™ Registry’s process for getting started and the associated services and fees.