The Climate Registry: How Your Organization Can Get Involved

On February 4, 2008, The Climate Registry gave a presentation at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to educate Colorado community members about the organization.  The Climate Registry is a non-profit organization established by states, tribes, and provinces in North America as a mechanism to measure greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistently across industry sectors and borders.

Participation in the program includes:

(1) Collecting and analyzing your organization's GHG emissions;
(2) Annual verification by an independent, approved verifier; and
(3) Reporting of all direct GHG emissions and indirect GHG emissions from electricity.
Corporations, government entities and non-profits that join before May 1, 2008, are considered founding affiliates and will be recognized in a national publicity campaign as environmental leaders. The Climate Registry anticipates being fully operational by June 30, 2008.

The Climate Registry identifies several benefits for reporters, including:

• A cost effective means to measure GHG emissions;
• A means to document a baseline and early GHG emission reduction efforts;
• Preparation for federal reporting requirements;
• Access to software and technical support for GHG emission accounting; and
• Recognition as a global environmental leader.

The Climate Registry has prepared a Draft General Reporting Protocol and is currently accepting comments on a Draft General Verification Protocol.

To learn more about The Climate Registry visit www.TheClimateRegistry.org.

(This post was contributed courtesy of Tasha Newland, Environmental Compliance Attorney in the Denver Office)