California adopts carbon reporting protocols

California's Air Resources Board (CARB) has adopted three voluntary carbon reporting protocols designed to prepare local government and environmental projects for the introduction of its wide-reaching AB32 climate control legislation.

Under AB32, California will effectively fall into line with the Kyoto Agreement, setting binding targets to cut emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and introducing a state wide cap-and-trade scheme.

CARB has now moved to support the legislation with the introduction of formal carbon reporting mechanisms that will make it easier for public sector bodies and businesses to keep track of their performance against the state's emission targets.

One of the protocols focuses on carbon emissions by local government operations, while the other two introduce reporting guidelines for carbon reduction projects, which could be used to produce tradable carbon offset credits.

The local government operations reporting protocol details how officials should measure and report emissions from buildings and facilities, street lighting and traffic signals, water management, vehicle fleets, ports and airports, and power generation facilities.

"Local governments are trying to determine climate action plans and they want a standardised method in California," said Richard Bode, chief of the emissions inventory branch at CARB.

He added that while the guidelines were voluntary, the programmes will enable participants to claim carbon emission reductions retrospectively after the AB32 scoping plan has been completed.

The other two protocols centre around urban tree planting and maintenance efforts, and manure digester projects. All of the projects were developed in conjunction with the California Climate Registry, said Bode, adding that the Registry is expanding from straightforward carbon emission reporting, into reporting on the performance of carbon reduction project offsets.

He hoped that the Registry's oversight during the creation of the protocols would help to satisfy industry-wide concerns over the regulation of carbon reduction offset credits.

In related news, the US Government Accountability Office late last month became the latest watchdog to call for standard quality assurance mechanisms for offset credits, and clear rules about the types of offset projects that could qualify under trading schemes.