IEMA Carbon Footprinting and Reporting

The IEMA Carbon Footprinting and Reporting course provides clear and practical guidance on current practices in carbon quantification. Its primary focus is on helping you establish an organisational carbon footprint as the basis for developing toward Net Zero.

It also provides an overview of other forms of quantification, including product footprinting, and explains how carbon footprints can help organisations plan for emissions reduction and develop pathways to Net Zero.

This course is not intended to provide detailed explanations of the background to climate change, or to provide extensive guidance on emissions reduction and working towards Net Zero.

This course is a good progression route to the IEMA Pathways to Net Zero course. It is also intended to be useful if you have taken the IEMA Pathways to Net Zero course and are seeking to improve your knowledge of carbon footprinting and reporting.

Who is the Course For?

This course is for any individual tasked with developing an organisation’s carbon footprint.

While some existing knowledge of environmental management is desirable there are no formal entry requirements.

Course Content

1.Introduction and background
2.Drivers for carbon quantification
3.Carbon quantification standards and schemes
4.Principles and techniques of carbon quantification
5.Communicating carbon data
6.Reducing emissions and Net Zero

Learning Outcome

By completing the IEMA Carbon Footprinting and Reporting course, you will know how to:

• Explain the essential mechanisms of climate change and the need to keep warming below 1.50C
• Explain the types of GHGs and their global warming potentials, and typical sources
• Explain key terminology used in carbon quantification and climate change mitigation
• Explain relevant climate risks and opportunities
• Explain in outline the global frameworks for addressing climate change and their key mechanisms
• Explain in outline the implications of UK government policy for organisations
• Explain in outline the interrelationships between climate change and broader sustainability frameworks
• Explain the importance of stakeholder and supply chain pressure in influencing organisational climate change strategy
• Explain in overview the approaches of organisational quantification frameworks and UK Government requirements
• Explain how an organisational carbon quantification strategy can be developed to meet these, together with any relevant sector codes
• Explain that there are various standards for product and project quantification
• Explain the relevance of the carbon quantification principles
• Explain how to develop an organisational footprinting strategy, based on organisational and external drivers
• Explain how to develop an organisational boundary
• Explain the distinctions between the GHG Scopes and plan an applicable inventory, including relevant Scope 3 categories
• Explain the hierarchy of methods for obtaining Scope 3 data
• Implement a process for calculating emissions, based on selection of methods for acquisition of activity data and selection of appropriate emission factors
• Manage the data collection process to ensure appropriate data quality, including addressing year-on-year changes in activities
• Identify appropriate methods for effective internal and external communications, taking account of reporting frameworks and standards (e.g. GHG Protocol, CDP, ISO 14064, etc.)
• Explain how carbon footprints are important in developing reduction and removals strategies, transition planning and demonstrating achievement
• Explain approaches in outline for developing an emissions reduction strategy and working towards Net Zero
• Appreciate how the IEMA Pathways to Net Zero course provides more detailed guidance

Assessment

This course is assessed via an open book 20-minute, multiple-choice test delivered on the day of the course.