Accreditation for GHG Assessors

The good news is that the South African Accreditation Services (SANAS) has prioritised a work programme to accredit companies (or individuals) for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) validations and verifications.

SANAS, an entity under the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), has identified accreditation of GHG verifications as a priority project. The standard ISO 14065 has been accepted as a South African Standard, creating consistency with international practices in relation to GHG calculations or verifications.  SANAS has established a Special Technical Committee on which the Carbon Protocol of South Africa is represented.  The expectation is that from February 2013 SANAS will accept applications for accreditations for ISO 14065.  The drivers for this programme are:

•    Carbon tax calculations
•    Increased export requirements for carbon footprint declarations
•    Carbon trading on the voluntary market
•    Mandatory GHG emission reporting
•    Calculations or verifications for the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

Accreditation reduces the risk to GHG programs by ensuring that verification bodies are competent to carry out the work they undertake.  The assessors of the Carbon Protocol for South Africa will have a year to meet the criteria set out in the standard.  The newsletter will contain updates on this programme as well as notifications of public consultation dates.  For more information the standard can be bought electronically from the South African Bureau of Standards SANS ISO 14065:2007. Greenhouse gases – requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition.