Leading organizations form the Carbon Call to address reliability and interoperability in carbon accounting for the planet
PR94481
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --
-- Participating organizations and signatories to focus on solving companies'
carbon emissions and removal accounting challenges for a net zero future
Over 20 leading organizations on Thursday announced an initiative to accelerate
the development of reliable and interoperable carbon emissions accounting,
which is necessary to help the world reach net zero by midcentury. The Carbon
Call mobilizes collective action, investment and resources from scientific,
corporate, philanthropic and intergovernmental organizations to enable access
to data and science that is reliable and up to date and can be easily exchanged
among carbon accounting systems.
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Reliable measurement and accounting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is
critical to climate accountability and attribution. According to an analysis (
) by The Washington Post, the gap in underreported GHG emissions "ranges from
at least 8.5 billion to as high as 13.3 billion tons a year." Today, carbon
accounting suffers from data quality issues, measurement and reporting
inconsistencies, siloed platforms, and infrastructure challenges. This makes it
difficult to compare, combine and share reliable data, particularly for
companies.
The Carbon Call uncovers and addresses gaps in existing global carbon
accounting systems, focusing on carbon removal and land sector, methane and
indirect emissions. The Carbon Call will work collectively to identify where
more accurate information is needed to improve reliability and advance
interoperability by design -- both in carbon accounting reports (or ledgers)
and the data ecosystems that support them.
The Carbon Call is hosted by ClimateWorks Foundation (
), and participating organizations include Capricorn Investment Group, Climate
Change AI, Corporate Leaders Group Europe, Global Carbon Project, Global
Council for Science and the Environment, International Science Council, LF
Energy, Linux Foundation, Microsoft, Mila, Skoll Foundation, Stanford Woods
Institute for the Environment, United Nations Environment Programme
(collaborating organization), and United Nations Foundation. Participating
organizations of the Carbon Call work to advance the development of universal
accounting methodological standards, enable expanded access to reliable GHG
emissions and removal data, and strengthen the interoperability of digital
accounting infrastructures.
Signatories to the Carbon Call support the enabling conditions needed for a
more reliable global system of interoperable carbon accounting reports (or
ledgers). To that end, signatories commit to report GHG emissions and offset
information comprehensively, including all scopes and classes of GHG emissions,
annually and transparently. Signatories include Capricorn Investment Group, EY,
GSK, KPMG, Microsoft, and Wipro.
The outputs of the coalition will be widely available, and organizations are
encouraged to learn more and sign on by visiting www.carboncall.org.
What participating organizations and signatories are saying about the Carbon
Call
Capricorn Investment Group
Ion Yadigaroglu, managing partner at Capricorn Investment Group, said, "We
invest billions of dollars into climate solutions, and we are now deploying
significant capital into carbon removal in order to meet our net zero
commitment. But this only registers at the scale of the climate crisis if we
can keep track of the global balance between greenhouse gas emissions and
removals. We are joining the Carbon Call to support the creation of a
transparent and science-based ledger for carbon accounting. This will be an
important building block for net zero investing."
Climate Change AI
David Rolnick, co-founder and chair of Climate Change AI and assistant
professor and Canada CIFAR AI Chair at McGill University, said, "The mission of
Climate Change AI is to catalyze impactful work at the intersection of climate
change and machine learning. Machine learning has already proved helpful in
gathering data on emissions and carbon stock and may be of use in supporting
verification and assessment of progress on emissions reductions. We are excited
to collaborate with the Carbon Call to advance the interoperability and
reliability of carbon accounting systems in the service of climate action."
ClimateWorks Foundation
Surabi Menon, vice president of global intelligence at ClimateWorks Foundation,
said, "To avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must deliver on
effective infrastructure this decade that supports credibility of net zero
targets. Accurate carbon accounting is fundamental to holding polluters
accountable and knowing where focus on climate action is most needed. The
Carbon Call will build on existing efforts by bringing together civil, business
and philanthropic actors to accelerate the development of more reliable and
interoperable systems for tracking emissions."
Corporate Leaders Group Europe
Eliot Whittington, director of Corporate Leaders Group Europe, said, "As action
on climate change scales up and becomes mainstream, we're seeing a growing
trust gap as new promises are made without the tools and systems to track
delivery. The Carbon Call is a much-needed rallying point for efforts to
improve the accountability, transparency and readability of data on carbon
emissions across the economy — an indispensable tool in closing that trust gap.
Better collaboration for more transparent, more clear and more useful data will
help the world keep track of climate pledges and give insights into how to
improve and accelerate delivery of the Paris Agreement. CLG Europe is proud to
support the Carbon Call and join efforts to enable the development of more
reliable global carbon data and consequently faster climate action."
EY
Steve Varley, global vice chair, sustainability at EY, said, "As businesses
realize their role in tackling climate change, pledges and promises must be
evidenced by progress and performance. A global, reliable and interoperable
system for improved GHG accounting is critical for our efforts to accelerate
action and track progress at scale. EY is excited to be joining this
collaboration across a broad range of stakeholders that will help create value
for all."
Global Carbon Project
Rob Jackson, chair of Global Carbon Project, earth scientist at Stanford
University, and senior fellow of the Stanford Woods Institute for the
Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy, said, "As scientists, we
track increasing concentrations of methane and other greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere that are warming the earth. But because of incomplete and
inconsistent emissions reporting and a scarcity of monitoring stations, it is
difficult for us to track where emissions originate and whether they are being
cut sufficiently in a given country or region. We are pleased to be part of the
Carbon Call, which cuts across science, civil society and the private sector to
develop more comprehensive and integrated emissions reporting."
Global Council for Science and the Environment
Michelle Wyman, executive director of the Global Council for Science and the
Environment, said, "Collaborations, partnerships and accountability between
scientists and decision makers are vital to advance the use of science to
address environmental challenges. The Carbon Call seeks to collaborate and
facilitate various industries and organizations from local, national and global
levels to develop a reliable global carbon accounting system. The Global
Council for Science and the Environment is pleased to support the Carbon Call
initiative to strengthen an interoperable global system of GHG accounting for
the planet."
International Science Council
Leena Srivastava, deputy director general for science at the International
Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, said, "The world needs to limit warming
to no more than 1.5 degrees. Staying within this goal requires accelerating
decarbonization through strategies that incentivize inclusive green growth.
Many of these strategies rely on carbon accounting, which is still in its
infancy. The Carbon Call's focus on interoperability and transparency is
critical to building a reliable carbon accounting system. Science has a key
role to play. Science is needed not only to expand availability to reliable
emissions and removal data but also to design strategies that ensure trusted
governance."
KPMG
Bill Thomas, global chairman and CEO of KPMG International, said, "Progress on
climate action demands all of us working together to achieve positive change on
a vast scale. That's why KPMG is excited to be a founding signatory of the
Carbon Call. Together, we can help build a more sustainable future for all."
LF Energy
Shuli Goodman, executive director of LF Energy, said, "Open source and
interoperable data and technologies are critical to accelerating
decarbonization of our economies. LF Energy provides a neutral, cooperative
community that is building those shared investments that will help the world to
meet the urgency of climate change. This is why we are excited to be part of
the Carbon Call's mandate to enable interoperability within the carbon
accounting infrastructure."
Linux Foundation
Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, said, "At Linux
Foundation, we help grow open technologies ecosystems to transform industries.
A key part of our work is enabling collaboration for building protocols
interoperability. We are excited to be part of the Carbon Call to support and
expand collaboration in building interoperability in the carbon accounting
infrastructure to help accelerate climate action."
Microsoft
Lucas Joppa, chief environmental officer at Microsoft, said, "With so many
organizations now committing to net zero, one key piece is still missing: a
transparent and interoperable system to track, report and compare GHG emissions
and removals. The Carbon Call is a collaboration to enable reliability among
the multiple, different GHG accounting ledgers — from the corporate to the
national to the planetary. We encourage all organizations committed to net zero
to join us."
Mila, the Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Yoshua Bengio, founder and scientific director of Mila, said, "A key challenge
to addressing the climate crisis globally is effectively accounting for carbon
so a price can be put on it. Machine learning has the potential to offer a
solution, but this requires that data from multiple sources be interoperable so
they can be aggregated and used in analysis. MILA is pleased to be part of the
Carbon Call collaboration to build a road map to ensure interoperability of
carbon data and improve carbon accounting."
Skoll Foundation
Bruce Lowry, senior advisor at Skoll Foundation, said, "Climate change requires
urgent, collective and coordinated action, including protecting forests and
managing land use better. But accounting data for emissions and carbon removal
by forests and other sectors remains siloed, making it difficult for countries
and companies to plan and take action. By catalyzing a more robust,
interoperable global accounting system, the Carbon Call will enhance carbon
accountability broadly. Having forest data integrated into a reliable global
accounting system will give local communities, companies and countries stronger
evidence of the value of preserving forests."
Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Christopher Field, Perry L. McCarty director at Stanford Woods Institute for
the Environment, said, "Natural climate solutions can be important contributors
to solving the climate crisis; at the same time they provide valuable
co-benefits for communities, economies and ecosystems. Getting the accounting
right is a critical foundation for building Natural Climate Solutions into a
comprehensive strategy for decarbonization. Stanford Woods Institute is pleased
to be collaborating on the Carbon Call to support efforts that enable more
reliable, transparent and integrated approaches to accounting for nature-based
carbon dioxide emissions and removals."
United Nations Environment Programme (collaborating organization)
Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, director of the United Nations Environment Program's
economy division, said, "With the scaled-up engagement the private sector saw
at COP 26 and the large number of new commitments and pledges, it is crucial
that we have a more transparent reporting system, one that builds confidence in
the reported reductions of financial institutions, industries and cities. The
Carbon Call will build on existing reporting initiatives in creating a coherent
and transparent common reporting format, once that ensures comparability of
reporting."
United Nations Foundation
Elizabeth Cousens, president and CEO of the United Nations Foundation, said,
"The science is clear: the pathway to 1.5°C is rapidly narrowing. To meet our
climate goals and save our planet for future generations, we need to slash
emissions significantly — and immediately. The Carbon Call is a welcome step
toward ensuring greater accountability and credibility for climate commitments
made across sectors."
Wipro Ltd.
Narayan P.S., VP and global head of sustainability and social initiatives at
Wipro Ltd., said, "In the run-up to COP26, we have seen an encouraging increase
in commitments from countries on emissions reductions, adding up to an
estimated two-thirds of the global economy. We are also seeing a concomitant
increase in corporate commitments with more than 2,000 companies that have set
science-based targets. While these are very positive developments, it is
absolutely critical that carbon accounting used to calculate GHG emissions is
transparent and based on science-based methods. We are happy to support the
Carbon Call's objectives of building a reliable system of GHG accounting with a
focus on some of the less understood areas like land use change and carbon
removals."
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
CONTACT: The Carbon Call, media@carboncall.org
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