Andrew Griffiths is Director of Policy and Partnerships at Planet Mark, a sustainability certification that supports organisations and real estate to measure and continually reduce carbon emissions and increase their social value. Andrew co-founded the Carbon Accounting Alliance (CAA) representing 300+ organisations in the industry. He also sits on Advisory Boards, Councils and Committees for the Institute of Directors (IoD), BSI Greenhouse Gas Management Standards, and UK-Government backed initiatives like UK Business Climate Hub and Project Perseus. Having delivered a TEDx talk on the power of meaningful networking, he is a big believer in the power of communication and how it can be used to drive climate action.

Andrew Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• Objectives of the Carbon Accounting Alliance (CAA)
• Ensuring consistency in carbon accounting methodologies
• Professionalization of the sector
• Engagement with policymakers and standard setters
• Public vs proprietary emission factors

Andrew’s Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?

If you're in carbon accounting, play nicely with everyone else. Come and play nicely with everyone else. If you're not in carbon accounting, it's an interesting question if this isn't a relevant sphere for you. I think the climate crisis requires radical collaboration. Carbon accountants have one role to play in this journey, but literally every other profession has its role to play. If there isn't an industry forum or a professional forum bringing together people within your area of specialty and expertise, whether that is you are an artist, you are an engineer, you are a logistics company, you are a waste company, whatever it might be, if you don't have some form of forum bringing you together with your peers to collectively solve the biggest, most challenging problems that you're facing, do it. There are going to be some really naughty problems that are going to take massive collaboration to solve.There are classic examples of that for things like green steel. Steel manufacturers, many of them are now getting together. They're pooling resources and money together to invest in trying to evolve technologies, because none of them have the budgets to do it independently and come up with some magical solution. They've come together to try to do stuff. We have to see that in more places and in more sectors and in more industries. So find your allies, that's the overall takeaway that is true for everyone. If you're a carbon accountant, hopefully we can help signpost a whole bunch of those to you. We now have over a thousand people at the alliance. We've got 570 member organizations, but over a thousand people. Plenty of allies for you there. If those aren't your allies, find them within your business. There will be allies in different professions, different specialties. One of the first things I encourage people within companies to do is just go and start talking to people, because you will find that there are people who care about this just as much as you do, and you can form a rebel alliance inside your business. I've seen so many examples of grassroots activations inside businesses causing quite big companies to have to up their game in sustainability, because the staff are demanding it. They're coming and going, we've got a proposal, we want to become a B Corp, we want to measure our carbon footprint, we want to  have a net zero target. If a big enough group of you get together and say that to your board, they're going to struggle to ignore you for very long because they don't want to lose you, you have power, and there's power in numbers. There's power in coming together. Find your allies.

Timestamps:

04:47 Collaborative Climate Crisis Solutions

08:13 Collaborative Carbon Measurement Initiative

09:49 Collective Action for Regulatory Change

15:08 Ensuring Robust Carbon Footprint Standards

20:38 Creating a Carbon Accounting Register

25:51 Global Sustainability Updates: Knowledge Sharing

27:47 UK Carbon Reporting Consultation Feedback

33:28 Open Carbon Data Collaboration

35:33 Granular Data for Carbon Reduction

41:06 Advocating Open Source for Emission Data

45:00 Transparent Collaboration in Safe Spaces

46:21 Carbon Accounting: Art and Science

50:44 Radical Collaboration Across Professions

Anthony Hickling has experience in environmental and social sustainability as well as nonprofit management and fundraising. His foundations in sustainable building are informed by experience at Presidio Graduate School where he received an MBA in Sustainable Solutions, as well as his work on the sustainability team at Webcor Builders in San Francisco. Through academic and professional experience he has learned to navigate the priorities of traditional business stakeholders while incorporating social and environmental externalities. From executing successful marketing plans to determining research priorities, Anthony believes that wide impact considerations and diversity of thought should be embedded into all decision-making.

Anthony’s Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• What embodied carbon is and why is it important
• The role of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in making informed material choices.
• The EC3 (embodied carbon and construction calculator) tool: what it does and how it can be utilized 
• The need for collaboration among building owners, developers, engineers, architects, and contractors

Anthyony’s Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?

Talk about embodied carbon. Everybody has a different role to play, if you're a public company or a small company, or if you're a contractor or an architect, this has an impact on many different levels of your total carbon emissions within the scope that you control. It's really important that everybody is both aware of this impact, but then also asking for decision makers to be playing a role in reducing embodied carbon. So talk about it. Ask for environmental product declarations. Ask your designers what their plans are to incorporate embodied carbon reductions in their designs. I think that right now, that's really what we need to make sure that this is scaling as a regular approach to how we design and build.

Timestamps:

03:56 Neglected carbon impacts in the built environment. 

08:51 Including carbon in building design decisions.

10:10 Tools to help reduce building design's environmental impact.

16:41 Contributing to reducing embodied carbon impact.

17:44 Prioritizing reducing embodied carbon in projects.

22:49 California's policies reducing embodied carbon emissions.

24:10 California requiring construction emissions reductions for large projects.

28:55 Requesting data to encourage suppliers to prioritize accessibility.

34:23 Addressing embodied carbon reduction collaboratively.

Dr. Gillenwater is a co-founder, Executive Director, and Dean of the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, a non-profit organization with the unique mission to train and professionalize a global community of experts for measuring, verifying, and managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Michael is a thought leader on GHG measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV), carbon offsets, additionality, green power, international capacity building, and environmental accounting. He has dedicated his career to professional and international development, focusing on the infrastructure needed to produce highly credible environmental information that can serve as the basis of effective climate policies. Beyond guiding the Institute’s strategy and programming, Michael also directs its research program and curriculum development.

He is a four time lead author for the IPCC and contributor to its 2007 Nobel Peace Price. He has been actively engaged in the work of the UNFCCC process for 25 years, including the training of compliance experts for the Kyoto Protocol. He has been a core advisor and contributing author to the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol. At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Michael was lead author of the official U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for its first 7 years. He also served on the U.S. negotiating team to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties.

Michael founded and serves as a co-Editor in Chief for the peer reviewed journal Carbon Management published by Tyler & Francis. He is also an active research scholar on GHG accounting and climate policy topics, having been widely published in peer-reviewed journals and quoted by the media. Dr. Gillenwater completed his PhD at the Science, Technology, & Environmental Policy Program at Princeton University, where his research was on the economics of renewable energy and emission markets and design of environmental commodities. He has three master’s degrees: i) environmental engineering, ii) technology policy, both from MIT, and iii) evolutionary systems from the University of Sussex where he was a Fulbright scholar. His bachelors is in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University.

Michael Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• Recommendations for defining boundaries
• Best practices for disclosures without impacting competitive advantages 
• Advice for showing consistency over time when more accurate methods of collecting data appear 

Michael’s Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?

Don't assume how we think about and how we do corporate GHG reporting now is the way it should be or will continue to be like. Especially going into the next couple years, open your mind to potential new ways of approaching this question. Start asking yourself and others: why are we doing this, what are specific use cases? Dive deeper into the specific use cases, not just for the inventory data now, but what you can imagine you might want to use the data for in the future. Start the thought process of being open to new ways of thinking.Maybe there isn't one corporate inventory. Maybe there's different ways of reporting for different purposes.

Learn more about the work being done at the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute at ghgmi.org.

Timstamps:

04:02 Scope three emissions reporting challenges.

10:58 Ensuring credibility requirces more than ransparency and auditing.

18:35 IPCC guidelines for detailed inventory issue guidance.

26:30 Listener takeaway and closing questions.

Dr. Gillenwater is a co-founder, Executive Director, and Dean of the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, a non-profit organization with the unique mission to train and professionalize a global community of experts for measuring, verifying, and managing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Michael is a thought leader on GHG measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV), carbon offsets, additionality, green power, international capacity building, and environmental accounting. He has dedicated his career to professional and international development, focusing on the infrastructure needed to produce highly credible environmental information that can serve as the basis of effective climate policies. Beyond guiding the Institute’s strategy and programming, Michael also directs its research program and curriculum development.

He is a four time lead author for the IPCC and contributor to its 2007 Nobel Peace Price. He has been actively engaged in the work of the UNFCCC process for 25 years, including the training of compliance experts for the Kyoto Protocol. He has been a core advisor and contributing author to the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol. At the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Michael was lead author of the official U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory for its first 7 years. He also served on the U.S. negotiating team to the UNFCCC Conference of Parties.

Michael founded and serves as a co-Editor in Chief for the peer reviewed journal Carbon Management published by Tyler & Francis. He is also an active research scholar on GHG accounting and climate policy topics, having been widely published in peer-reviewed journals and quoted by the media. Dr. Gillenwater completed his PhD at the Science, Technology, & Environmental Policy Program at Princeton University, where his research was on the economics of renewable energy and emission markets and design of environmental commodities. He has three master’s degrees: i) environmental engineering, ii) technology policy, both from MIT, and iii) evolutionary systems from the University of Sussex where he was a Fulbright scholar. His bachelors is in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University.

Michael Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• How to determine who would be the best fit within an organization to conduct an GHG inventory 
• Spend based emission factors and where to find reputable sources
• TACCC Principals for GHG inventories 

Michael’s Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?

Don't assume how we think about and how we do corporate GHG reporting now is the way it should be or will continue to be like. Especially going into the next couple years, open your mind to potential new ways of approaching this question. Start asking yourself and others: why are we doing this, what are specific use cases? Dive deeper into the specific use cases, not just for the inventory data now, but what you can imagine you might want to use the data for in the future. Start the thought process of being open to new ways of thinking.Maybe there isn't one corporate inventory. Maybe there's different ways of reporting for different purposes.

Learn more about the work being done at the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute at ghgmi.org.

Timestamps:

08:50 Engineering skills for understanding environmental systems processes.

12:48 Reliance on default factors limiting accurate emissions tracking.

16:12 Expansive lifecycle assessments offering emission source insights.

19:42 GHC protocol website for resource options.

23:07 Importance of transparency for environmental treaty compliance.

25:32 Corporate reporting not designed for company comparisons.

Welcome to The Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast, presented by North Star Carbon Management. I'm your host, Chris Barzman. Whether you're tackling the carbon footprint of a multinational corporation or a small business, this podcast is your go-to resource for all things carbon management.

As someone who has been in the trenches of environmental management for over a decade, I've witnessed the evolution of the industry and the growing urgency for actionable and effective carbon strategies. Throughout this podcast series, you’ll gain insights from leading experts in the field, hear about the latest innovations in technology, and learn about the regulatory changes that could impact your business.

Having completed numerous carbon inventories for both small and large businesses across various industries, I understand the complexities and challenges of accurately measuring, reporting, and reducing carbon emissions. More importantly, I also realize that many people tasked with leading an organizations’ carbon management plan don’t have a strong background in this area and are always looking for easy to absorb information that fits into their already busy schedules, hence the decision to create this podcast.

In e ach episode, we'll dive deep into critical topics such as emerging trends in carbon accounting, how to navigate the challenges of data collection and analysis, and the best practices for sustainable carbon management. We'll provide you with actionable tips, detailed case studies, and thoughtful commentary to help you not just meet, but exceed your environmental targets.

We’re here to empower you with knowledge and tools that will not only enhance your professional capabilities but also contribute to your organization’s sustainability goals. Our mission is to foster a community of professionals who are equipped to take on environmental challenges with confidence and foresight.

We do really want to incorporate listener feedback along the way, so please be sure to comment on episodes or reach out to us directly at [email protected]. We are always looking for ways to improve and find new and interesting topics to share and discuss. Please make sure to subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform and share it with others that might also be interested. Stay connected with us through our website at www.northstarcarbon.com and follow us on LinkedIn for updates and more tips and ideas.

On behalf of myself, your host Chris Barzman and the entire North Star Carbon Management team, thank you for investing your time with us and we look forward to serving our listener community!

Michele is the Founder and CEO of Boundless Impact Research & Analytics, an industry research and impact analytics platform that provides quantitative and evidence-based research and data for investors, companies, and funds. Boundless offers Scope 1, 2 & 3 climate data and analysis and market intelligence across a growing number of emerging sectors that address significant environmental challenges.  

From 2010-2013, she was Vice President at Foundation Source where she built a knowledge platform on best practices in philanthropy that was used by a network of 1200 family offices. From 2007-2008, Michele was Director of Communications for Humanity United, a philanthropic entity created by Pam Omidyar and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. She has been involved in the successful development of more than two-dozen startups and is regularly called upon for her innovative thinking about environmental impact measurement.

Michele advises and mentors several emerging clean tech companies and projects and has a proven track record in building new technologies, research methodologies, and companies. She has 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur, business executive, and impact measurement expert.

Michele is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and has a Master’s in International Relations and Communications from Boston University.

Michele Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• Life cycle assessments and best practices
• Setting up and defining boundaries
• Strategies for delivering information to clients
• Avoiding greenwashing
• Importance of using independent experts

Michele's Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?

I would like everyone to understand that lifecycle assessment and like environmental impact measurement is not a 'nice to have.' It's an urgent 'need to have.' We're moving to a carbon price world where companies that are not doing honest reporting on their emissions and their environmental performance are going to now have negative balance sheets and stranded assets and a lot of problems. The companies that are thinking ahead, integrating renewable energy into their supply chains and value in their operations, purchasing and integrating sustainability strategies into products or ways of doing business into their work, they are the ones that are going to be the stocks to invest in. For investors, it would behoove them to not look at this lifecycle assessment and objective LCA data and things like that as something that's just nice to have, but something they absolutely must have in order to derisk an investment.

I would encourage people to be skeptical about the data that's being thrown out there. The data's either being greenwashed a lot way too often, or companies are saying, 'Hey, we've got really impressive emissions.' They're kind of bragging about a number of emissions that is really not very impressive. It's really when you're in the gigatons and megatons of emissions reduction that you're a game changing technology. If you are doing only tons or kilotons, it's not even worth mentioning, because you're not really making a difference. That's the one thing I've noticed, people are not aware of the kind of scale they need to achieve in order to be a game changer. There's an awful lot of folks out there that are doing a little bit, but they're not doing enough. The investors are really focused on the technologies that have gigaton and megaton emissions reduction potential, and I think that's great. Breakthrough Energy Ventures is one of them that actually has a target set. I think there's just a lot of education that investors need to do on how to measure and understand that and set targets for themselves.

Connect with Michele Demers on LinkedIn or at [email protected], and learn more about the work being done at Boundless Impact at boundlessimpact.net or on LinkedIn.

Timestamps:

05:20 Passion for building new markets, impact measurement.

07:37 Transitioning to ESG carbon accounting.

10:36 Selecting KPIs.

14:25 LCAs measuring full product footprint for emissions.

18:44 ESG involving informed business decisions and integrity.

20:15 Independent expert reviews to ensure accurate environmental data.

27:02 Challenges to reduce GHG emissions.

35:56 Significance of lifecycle assessment to assess environmental impact.

Miranda Mair is a Senior Carbon Advisor at ENGIE Impact, where she is excited to have an opportunity to help her clients tackle the environmental challenges that come with a changing climate and energy landscape. Miranda’s background as a broadcast meteorologist helps her every day as she guides clients through the science of greenhouse gas assessments and climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts, as well as complex air quality analyses. Her favorite part is communicating these approaches and results to stakeholders, which she learned to do early on as a broadcast meteorologist at the start of her career. These days she’s less focused on the local 7-day forecast and more concerned with how to make a positive impact globally for our next several decades.

Miranda Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• Advice for getting started, collecting data, and setting organizational boundaries
• Ancillary benefits of carbon inventories
• Target reductions
• Tips for rebaselining as data collection processes improve
• Inventory management plans

Miranda's Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?

Carbon is currency, and you need to have good accountants working with you. As a company that has carbon software, software can be a great tool, but if you are any more complex, you probably want to have some consultants and some great advice and carbon advisors to help you through that process. I liken it to doing your taxes. Most people can get by doing their taxes if you have a fairly simple portfolio of assets. But if you start to have a lot of balls in the air, you're going to want to hire a good tax accountant because it makes a big difference. You wouldn't be using TurboTax for your corporate taxes for a business.  I think framing it like that helps people realize that you really do get some value from having someone help guide you through this process and help to uncover areas that you can improve, ways that you can make this easier, and make it repeatable year over year.

Learn more about Miranda Mair on LinkedIn and learn more about the work being done at ENGIE Impact at https://www.engieimpact.com/.

Timestamps:

04:29 Asking questions to meet client needs.

06:51 Start with everything!

11:39 Identify energy inefficiencies with a carbon inventory.

14:40 Better data informs choices, reduces carbon impacts.

19:43 Changing methodology affects data accuracy and tracking.

20:36 Compare, track trends and adjust to inform strategy.

25:33 Tracking CDP, GHG Protocol, and disclosures.

27:40 Effective communication and education drive environmental initiatives.

Chris Lawless has more than 23 years of GHG management, sustainability, and environmental consulting experience. He has developed or verified more than 500 GHG inventories and is well-versed in GHG reporting and verification protocols, standards, and regulations. Chris is an accredited Lead GHG Emissions Verifier in several voluntary and mandatory GHG reporting programs throughout the US. Chris has developed or verified more than 500 GHG reporting and verification protocols, standards, and regulations.

Chris has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from Connecticut College and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management from University of San Francisco.

Christopher Joins the Carbon Accounting and Management Podcast to Discuss:

• Advice for getting started with carbon emission inventories
• Best practices for approaching Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions
• Verification measures looked for when evaluating inventories 
• Strategies for creating an accurate and meaningful Scope 2 inventory 
• Considerations for carbon offset projects 
• Ancillary benefits to carbon accounting

Chris' Listener Takeaway: If there's only one thing that our guests take away from this conversation, what do you think it should be?  Don't wait, and write everything down. The more documentation you have in terms of how you've established your greenhouse gas inventory, as an example, the better traceability, auditability, year over year reportability you'll have, ensuring that you're using the same methods. This is super important as we move into a more regulated world for some organizations. Some are already there in California and and other places, but having a good management plan is really key. 

Learn more about Chris Lawless and the work being done at Cameron-Cole at cameron-cole.com and adecesg.com. 

Timestamps:

00:00 California's new law mandating carbon reporting.

05:42 Centralizing data collection for accurate emission tracking.

08:39 Spend-based strategies utilizing EEIO.

10:37 California regulations aligning with US EPA standards.

14:50 Detailed inventory management plan with exclusions explained.

19:03 Dual GHG reporting: location and market-based factors.

23:13 Organizational efficiency aids emission reduction efforts.

26:33 Robust California program: quantifiable, physical emission reductions.

29:46 Operational changes crucial for achieving carbon neutrality.

31:44 Large companies pushing suppliers for emissions transparency.

35:58 Act now: prepare and verify greenhouse gas inventory.

38:20 Start now: consultants may become scarce later.

41:59 Emissions reduction requires data analysis and planning.