The ISO 14000 standards cover every aspect of environmental management and its downstream processes you can think of. The ISO 14000 family aims to support businesses to:

• Minimize the environmental impact of your operation.
• Comply with laws, regulations and other requirements.
• Improve in both of the above areas.

The ISO 14000 family was created to address the problem of lack of comparability as different companies set their own environmental management practices. However, the issue of comparability still prevails, especially in the food industry. Since many food and beverage companies have previous experience with ISO certification, it is good to know that in the 14000 family, ISO itself does not own the conformity assessment. In other words, companies do not obtain certification from ISO itself. ISO has a neutral policy on conformity in this group and conformity assurance can be carried out either by the company itself or by a third party. (SOFIA PYRGIOTI, carbon cloud)

The International Organization for Standardization, also known in the business community as ISO ISO is a popular and globally trusted provider of standards for almost everything . From quality and risk management to technical areas like medical devices and food safety, to deep niches like wine tasting glasses, condom clinical trials, and tea brewing standards. Naturally, environmental management fits very well under the wings of ISO standardization – and it’s its own family! Let’s take a look ISO 14000, a family of standards and guidelines related to environmental management . (SOFIA PYRGIOTI, carbon cloud)

The GHG Protocol is an organization that issues standards , not a standard in itself. The coalition that led to the birth of the GHG Protocol organization was first formed in the late 1990s. World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development  (WBCSD) have joined forces to address the lack of a standardized method for accounting for greenhouse gases.

The GHG Protocol focuses exclusively on climate as an impact category The first standard issued by the GHG Protocol, the first edition of the Corporate Standard, was published in 2001. The GHG Protocol also established what is now the main concepts in sustainability reporting. Range 1, 2, 3 Today, the GHG Protocol has several standards for different objectives and stakeholders. (More on co2news.sk)

There are many different greenhouse gases, the most well-known of which is carbon dioxide. Different greenhouse gases affect the climate in different ways. Some remain in the atmosphere for a long time, but do not cause as much warming per kilogram of emissions as carbon dioxide, for example.  Others, such as methane, warm the Earth greatly but do not stay in the atmosphere for very long. There is a certain exchange rate that allows for comparison of different gases.  The exchange rate expresses how many kg of carbon dioxide emissions warm the climate as much as 1 kg of another greenhouse gas. The exchange rate is called the global warming potential and is usually abbreviated as GWP. By knowing the GWP of different gases, the overall climate impact of a product can be summarized in a single unit: kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (kg CO₂e).

Why not the “carbon footprint” that many others are talking about? The calculation is the same, but the term “carbon footprint” is misleading because it gives the impression that it’s all about carbon. When we think of greenhouse gases, we usually think of carbon dioxide. It’s the most important greenhouse gas in terms of human impact on the environment, but it’s actually less important for food production. Carbon dioxide is responsible for about 65% of global warming. However, methane and nitrous oxide are two other important greenhouse gases that are often of much greater importance for life cycle assessments of food products. In agriculture, methane emissions come primarily from the digestive system of ruminants, manure management and rice production. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas, but it does not remain in the atmosphere for as long as carbon dioxide. Nitrous oxide is released from arable land. A small fraction of all available nitrogen in the soil is converted to nitrous oxide, a potent and long-lasting greenhouse gas. Nitrous oxide emissions also come from manure handling and the production of synthetic fertilizers.
Food production also causes carbon dioxide emissions, particularly when fossil fuels are used for machinery and transportation in the supply chain, changes in soil carbon stocks, and from the production of packaging material.Our goal is to assess how much each edible item in the grocery store contributes to global warming. For many food products, it's nitrous oxide that has the biggest non-carbon impact on the climate. That's why we use the term "climate footprint."

Sixteen cities across Italy have been put on red alert as southern Europe continues to experience scorching heat and face the possibility of record temperatures. Rome, Florence and Bologna are among the areas hit by the heatwave, with forecasters suggesting that temperatures in Sicily and Sardinia could reach 49°C (120°F), the hottest on record in Europe. Red alerts mean that even healthy people can be at risk of heatstroke, and the Italian government has advised those in alert areas to avoid direct sunlight between 11am and 6pm. He also warned people to take special care of the elderly and vulnerable. (Jane Clinton)

The world needs an “urgent” transition away from fossil fuels as part of efforts to reduce planet-heating emissions and limit global warming, a coalition of countries including EU economies and countries vulnerable to climate change said on Friday. In a statement released at the end of climate talks in Brussels, the coalition of high ambitions said the end-of-year COP28 talks must pave the way for “an urgent and just transition to renewables, a more climate-resilient world and climate justice for all.” . “We must accelerate the global energy transition away from fossil fuels,” said the statement, signed by representatives of countries including Germany, France and the Marshall Islands, as well as the European Commission.

Natural gas has long been considered a more climate-friendly alternative to coal because gas-fired power plants generally release less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than their coal-fired counterparts. But a new study finds that when the full impact of the industry is taken into account, natural gas could contribute as much to climate change as coal. Natural gas is composed primarily of methane , a strong greenhouse gas. New peer-reviewed analysis in the journal  Environmental Research Letters found that when even small amounts of methane escape from natural gas wells, production facilities, and pipelines, it can increase the industry's emissions to the same level as coal. (Jeff Brady)

Provided that the existing series of projects are implemented, Foresight Sustainable Forestry (FSF) will plant around 9 million trees in the UK over the next 2 years, creating over 4,000 hectares of newly reforested land. This equates to around a third of all tree planting that took place in the UK during 2022. Planting new trees provides the UK with two key benefits. First, forests, including those that are commercially managed on a rotational basis for wood supply, act as carbon sinks, meaning they take more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Although it's easy to forget amid the ever-changing news cycle, the UK government still has a net zero target, which aims to reduce emissions from 1990 levels to zero by 2050. (David Kimberley)

With its political measures, the EU protects the environment and tries to minimize risks threatening the climate, human health and biological diversity. The European Green Convention aims to make Europe the first carbon-neutral continent, partly by developing greener energy sources and green technologies.

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The second big topic we will discuss is climate change and our preparations for COP28. The European Union is at the forefront of the clean energy transition and energy savings. We want to continue to push for climate ambition. And we want to encourage the world to follow suit. That is why we are proposing to define global targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency. We will discuss this tomorrow. This is in preparation for COP28. Climate finance is, of course, crucial for developing economies and emerging markets. The huge gap that we still see in climate finance cannot be filled by public finance alone. We need the private sector. Carbon pricing can also play an important role. These are all topics that we will discuss in detail tomorrow.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, each year one-third of all food produced for human consumption in the world never reaches consumers' tables. Global food losses and food waste account for about 8 percent of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that the contribution of food waste emissions to global warming is almost equivalent (87 percent) to global road transport emissions. 

Something has to change. Politicians and environmental organizations have invested millions to influence people's behavior and they solved the climate crisis . But it's not working. No G20 country is on track to meeting its climate goals . Instead researchers focus their attention on the connection between people's perception of time and the action they take on climate change. One of the main areas, which researchers are investigating, it's how people interpret the vast timescales needed to understand climate change. ( Ruth Ogden, Liverpool John Moores University)

Limiting the increase in global average temperature to 1.5°C is increasingly unattainable. Here we show the impact of global warming on the demand for global warming from 1.5°C to 2.0°C. African countries have the highest increase in cooling demand. Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Norway (traditionally unprepared for the heat) will suffer the largest relative increases in cooling demand. Immediate and unprecedented adaptation actions are needed worldwide to prepare for a warmer world. (Nicole D. Miranda, Jesus Lizana, Malcolm)