What are the differences between product carbon footprint and carbon verification?

The carbon footprint of a product refers to the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions generated directly and indirectly during the product's acquisition of raw materials, manufacturing, transportation, sales, use, and disposal stages.

Product Carbon Footprint

Carbon verification refers to the process in which a third-party service agency conducts a systematic and independent evaluation of the greenhouse gas statements of carbon emission control units participating in carbon emission trading based on agreed verification criteria (ISO14064) and forms a document.

Carbon Verification

Let's take a look at the differences between them:

1. Different purposes:

The main purpose of product carbon footprint assessment is to understand the direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions of products throughout their life cycle, and to evaluate the greenhouse effect environmental impact of products in the entire economic and social process, so as to improve corporate management methods, promote emission reduction in the entire industrial chain, and then attract more consumers and bring more profits;

Carbon verification is mandatory and enforced by the state. It is a tool to control greenhouse gas emissions from key emission enterprises and guide enterprises in their low-carbon transformation. It is also the preliminary work that the state must do to promote the carbon market.

2. Different organizational entities:

The main body of the product carbon footprint is the enterprise itself. Enterprises that need carbon footprint certification will arrange qualified institutions to conduct carbon footprint certification on their own;

Carbon verification is mostly assigned by the state to the Development and Reform Commissions of various provinces and cities. The Development and Reform Commissions of various provinces and cities publicly bid for qualified verification agencies. The verification agencies verify, calculate and submit the results of the annual greenhouse gas emissions of key emission units. After acceptance, the provincial Development and Reform Commissions report to the National Development and Reform Commission.

3. Different commonly used standards:

Product carbon footprint method standards include PAS2050 and ISO14067;

Carbon verification adopts the ISO14064 series of standards.

4. Different accounting scopes:

Product carbon footprint, i.e. greenhouse gas emissions over the entire life cycle of a product, covers the different stages of emissions during the product life cycle. Its calculation is not used for trading or comparison of emissions between companies;

Carbon verification is usually carried out on the basis of enterprises, and the greenhouse gas emissions generated by them are calculated, generally speaking, it refers to the enterprise’s factory site (enterprises involving multiple factory sites are considered separately).

5. Different workflows:

The product carbon footprint assessment process includes: purpose and scope definition, inventory analysis, impact assessment, and result interpretation;

The carbon verification process can generally be divided into: preparation stage, implementation stage and reporting stage.

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