UK carbon emission standard

Updated: 05/11/2008

Source: Fresh Info – Monday, 3 Nov 08

The new specification for assessing the life cycle of greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services has been welcomed by farmers and growers as “a step in the right direction”.

Paul TempleThe standard, known as PAS (Publicly Available Specification) 2050, provides a detailed specification for counting the greenhouse gas emissions embedded in goods and services throughout their entire life cycle – from sourcing raw materials, through to manufacture, distribution, use and disposal.

Carbon footprintUK National farmers Union vice president Paul Temple said: “The Carbon Trust, BSI British Standards and DEFRA are to be congratulated on their development of PAS 2050 as a common standard for the measurement of the greenhouse gas footprint of products.”

“However, in its present form, the specification adds to the burden of farm paperwork with no clear financial return. We need to work towards a credible, rigorous and practical way to measure the carbon footprint of agricultural products”, said Mr Temple.

Ideally, this will become a useful tool for growers to improve their businesses and reduce the Carbon emissions of British agriculture. “We also want to help assessors with applying the standard when its use becomes widespread.”

^ Back to top