2011 is coming to an end, surely a dynamic year not only in carbon and environmental footprinting.

For your calendar, here is the date of the upcoming 7th PCF World Summit “Renewable Energy and Natural Resources in the Value Chain” on 17-18 April 2012 in Berlin, Germany.

The next Summit is dedicated to better understanding status and prospects of using and communicating about renewable energy and natural resources in products and value chains, measures taken or planned by many companies in their pursuit to lower the climate and environmental impact of their value chains. A close look at international developments in carbon and environmental footprinting will as always also be part of the Summit agenda. For those keen to reserve their place early, you may do so already now, enjoying a 20% Early-Bird discount.

Selected impressions from the previous PCF World Summit can be found at:
Sylvain Chevassus from the French Environmental Ministry on the ongoing environmental labelling experimentation
Laura Palmeiro and Richard Catteloin from Danone on the challenge to footprint its 35,000 products
A short wrap-up of the dedicated tracks on methodology, communication and talent:

See also what participants said at the last Summit: http://www.pcf-world-forum.org/statements/-/6th_pcf_world_summit

Please have a peace- and insightful Christmas and New Year’s time.
We look forward to continueing the dialogue with you in 2012!

Today new drafts of the EU methodologies on products’ environmental footprint (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/product_footprint.htm) and organisations’ environmental footprint (http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/corporate_footprint.htm) haven been published online for stakeholders consultation.

You may provide your comments through the template provided until 28 November 2011.

The comments received by the deadline will contribute to the discussion during the stakeholder workshop that will take place on November 29-30. Please notice that participation in this workshop is by invitation only. Moreover please also notice that no written feedback will be provided to those who will send the comments. The Commission notes that it will carefully analyse all feedback received and include it in the next revision of the methodologies to the extent possible and whenever relevant.

The 6th PCF World Summit “Environmental Footprinting in Europe and Beyond: How Will it Shape the Corporate Agenda“ took place at the Umspannwerk Kreuzberg, on the 26 – 27 October 2011. About 140 international delegates and speakers were in attendance, from fields of business, government, non-government organisations and academic institutions.

The Summit explored current developments around environmental footprinting, i.e. standards, tools and initiatives that address the environmental performance of products and value chains, while keeping an eye on the global challenges and the business and policy imperative.

Click here for further details.

The 6th PCF World Summit Companion with a detailed programme, initiative descriptions, information on speakers and participants is currently in print. Have a quick look (see below) or download the companion in advance here

We are happy to announce the following programme changes and additions for the 6th PCF World Summit on 26-27 October 2011 in Berlin:

DANONE ON MEASURING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF 35,000 PRODUCTS ON A REGULAR BASIS
On Day 1 of the Summit Laura Palmeiro and Richard Catteloin from Danone will speak on their effort to calculate, analyse and manage the carbon footprint of 35,000 products. To support its ambitious GHG reduction goals up to 2012, Danone has teamed up with SAP to simplify the measurement and management of the carbon emissions of 35,000 products, including a detailed view of every step in their life cycles.

FRENCH RETAILER CASINO ON THE ADVANCEMENTS OF ITS ENVIRONMENTAL LABELLING PROJECT
Marc Voinnesson from French retailer Casino will present the current status of its product environmental labelling project, which has evolved from the original “L’Indice Carbone” as part of the French Environmental Declaration Programme and shall include 300 products by the end of 2012. The project is implented in collaboration with other retailers, manufacturers, NGOs and supporting organisations.

NATIONAL INITIATIVES: UPDATES ON THE CARBON LABELLING PROJECT IN SOUTH KOREA
Kyung-hwan Kim from South Korea will introduce recent developments around the carbon labelling programme in South Korea.

LEVERAGING FUNDS FOR REDUCING GHG EMISSIONS OF SMALL-SCALE PRODUCERS WITHIN THE FAIRTRADE NETWORK
Pieter Louw from FLO-CERT will speak on how the Fairtrade network is raising funds for reducing GHG emissions in supply chains involving small-scale producers.

ACCOUNTING FOR LOWER GREEN POWER GHG EMISSIONS IN CARBON FOOTPRINT ASSESSMENTS
Instead of the originally foreseen debate on Day 2 we have decided to take up the issue of accounting for the use of “green power” in carbon footprint calculations. Current standards make the inclusion of lower emission factors from specific suppliers practically impossible. The session will stress the demand for better recognition of supplier specific emission factors, e.g. through the use of certified “green power”, and explore how this will or may be included in future standards and methodologies.
Please consider taking part in our short and anonymous three-question online survey on the inclusion of “green power” in product and corporate carbon footprint calculations:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/greenpower_carbonfootprint

Find the detailed programme here
There are still a couple of places left. Register here as soon as possible to reserve your place for the 6th PCF World Summit.