GHG Emissions Aggregation

Definition

GHG Emissions Aggregation is the process of summarizing an entities total GHG Emissions from all GHG Emissions Sources within its GHG Inventory.

To report a corporation’s total GHG emissions, companies will usually need to gather and summarize data from multiple facilities, possibly in different countries and business divisions. It is important to plan this process carefully to minimize the reporting burden, reduce the risk of errors that might occur while compiling data, and ensure that all facilities are collecting information on an approved, consistent basis. Ideally, corporations will integrate GHG reporting with their existing reporting tools and processes, and take advantage of any relevant data already collected and reported by facilities to division or corporate offices, regulators or other stakeholders.

The tools and processes chosen to report data will depend upon the information and communication infrastructure already in place (i.e., how easy is it to include new data categories in corporate databases). It will also depend upon the amount of detail that corporate headquarters wishes to be reported from facilities. Data collection and management tools could include:

• Secure databases available over the company intranet or internet, for direct data entry by facilities
• Spreadsheet templates filled out and e-mailed to a corporate or division office, where data is processed further
• Paper reporting forms faxed to a corporate or division office where data is re-entered in a corporate database. However, this method may increase the likelihood of errors if there are not sufficient checks in place to ensure the accurate transfer of the data.