Australia adopts greenhouse gas protocol

SYDNEY, 19 March 2002 - With the launch of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol in Sydney on Monday, Australian companies will for the first time be able to apply internationally accepted greenhouse-gas accounting and reporting standards.

New South Wales Energy Minister Kim Yeadon launched the protocol, developed by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). The protocol, a joint venture of international businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments, was developed in Geneva and Washington over the past three years. Australian businesses are now able to use the protocol as a tool to identify and calculate greenhouse-gas emissions and report on their company's greenhouse impact.

"More than 30 companies in 10 countries road-tested the draft, with extensive peer reviews over three years," WBCSD spokeswoman Heidi Sundin said. "This protocol sets the first international benchmark for corporate reporting applicable to different business sectors."

A range of multinational companies contributed to the initial testing of the protocol, including BP, Volkswagen, DuPont, IBM and Ford Motor Co.

"The protocol not only provides companies with a way to track green house-gas emissions generated from their business operations, but also the opportunity to clearly identify potential improvements in their emissions," Australian Cement Industry Federation spokesman Peter Klose said.

Yeadon said that the New South Wales government takes the issue of managing greenhouse-gas emissions seriously. "The development of a standardized approach to assessing greenhouse-gas emissions for industry is a very valuable contribution to underpinning an emissions trading regime," Yeadon said at the launch.