Counting carbon in the marketplace: Part 1 - overview paper: Report for the OECD

Concern over climate change has stimulated interest in estimating the total amount of greenhouse gasses (GHG) produced during the different stages in the ―life cycle‖ of goods and services — i.e. their production, processing, transportation, sale, use and disposal. The outcome of these calculations are often referred to as ―product carbon footprints‖ (PCFs), where ―carbon footprint‖ is the total amount of GHGs produced for a given activity and ―product‖ is any good or service that is marketed. PCFs are thus distinct from GHG assessments performed at the level of projects, corporations, supply chains, municipalities, nations or individuals. This paper discusses the rationale, context, coverage and characteristics of emerging voluntary standards and schemes that estimate and designate PCFs for internationally traded products.