Climate Registry Defines Organizational Boundaries
Organizational boundaries define requirements for accounting and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. These boundaries are contained within the Climate Registry, and specifically define the emissions that an entity tracks and reports. In the United States, companies are providing this information to help in the reduction of global warming.
By definition, organizational boundaries determine an entitys operation and whether it is owned or controlled by the reporting company. The reporting can be based on either the equity share or control consolidation approach.
When it comes to defining organizational boundaries, an equity share of production is an accounting method involving a report for each operation based upon its share of the economic interests. A percentage would then reflect the extent of the ownership, or rights, and is based on the profit and loss share.
The control approach can be used to define organizational boundaries. An entity reports all of its greenhouse gas emissions from all operations under its control. Ownership does not come into this equation.
The Climate Registry is an important institution that aims to distribute information concerning greenhouse gas emissions. This nonprofit and nongovernmental organization has developed important standards used throughout North America to calculate and report emissions in a unified fashion. More than 330 corporations from all industry sectors, nonprofit groups and government entities are Registry members.
Organizational boundaries must be reported in full under the greenhouse gas emissions registry. Reports are required for revenue and nonrevenue services, administrative buildings, leased or owned stations and facilities, services provided under contract to another company, privately operated services, van pools and paratransit.
There are many greenhouse gases of significant concern. Environmentally damaging gases will lead to global warming. The most damaging are chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, carbon dioxide, methane, chlorine, bromine, methyl bromide, methyl chloroform, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon tetrachloride, nitrogen trifluoride, hydrofluorinated ethers.
In the Climate Registrys inventory management plan, facilities need to indicate whether they are reporting based on either the control approach with equity share using operational control criteria; control approach with equity share using financial control; control approach based on operational control; or control approach based using financial control criteria. The inventory reporting document also includes a facilities and association emissions section in which a master list of all the buildings under an entitys organizational boundaries must be listed, along with their addresses, percentage of ownership or control, types of emissions and type of equipment or source. Because of the complexity of emissions tracking and reporting, many facilities equipped with refrigeration and air-conditioning (RAC) systems or heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are using refrigerant management programs to automatically track and report the information.