My Green Audit

Partnership to Up-skill Australian Greenhouse Professionals

Sydney, Australia. 19 April 2010. NCS International (“NCSI”) has partnered with the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (“GHGMI”) to build the capacity of Australian industry as it copes with the growing demand for greenhouse gas services.

The GHGMI, an internationally-recognised leader in training climate change professionals, was founded as a non-profit organisation to train and support a global community of qualified professionals to work on GHG measurement, accounting, auditing and management.

The partnership will see a number of training courses delivered to fulfill the emerging demand for competent and credible climate change professionals with training, skills and expertise in greenhouse accounting, reporting, auditing and compliance.  According to the Managing Director of NCSI International, Mr Greg Jewson, “The need to up-skill professionals to deliver greenhouse services is an issue that is not limited to Australia.”

 “A recent GHGMI survey of more than 700 key industry professionals, scientists and organisational leaders from around the world found that 84% of respondents believed there was a shortage of qualified greenhouse gas staff and experts to undertake current needs and planned initiatives,” said Mr Jewson.

NCSI International’s Environment and Sustainability Manager responsible for Climate Change services, Mr Nav Brah, confirmed the company’s alignment with the GHGMI’s mission to develop and train a worldwide community of GHG management experts: “Our partnership will help corporations, governments and organisations build capacity to adapt to emerging carbon markets and comply with a range of greenhouse regulations, including the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) legislation, the proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) and the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).”

In welcoming the partnership with NCS International, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute, Mr Michael Gillenwater, said: “The role of qualified personnel in greenhouse gas management cannot be understated. From assuring the accuracy of the data underpinning carbon markets to ensuring an inventory can stand up to scrutiny, skilled experts are fundamental to addressing the challenge of climate change.”

“We are excited to partner with NCS International, one of Australia’s leading certification and training organisations, to deliver internationally recognised greenhouse management skills Australian industry needs,” said Mr Gillenwater.   

The first public GHGMI course being offered in Australia is the foundation course, Basics of Organisational GHG Accounting. It is based on the WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol Corporate Standard and ISO 14064: Part 1, the International Standard for preparing corporate greenhouse gas emission inventories.  In addition, NCSI will offer a companion course covering reporting under NGER.  These courses will provide a robust foundation for a wide range of professionals working for, or providing services to, organisations with a mandatory requirement to report under NGER or to corporations voluntarily reporting their carbon footprint. 

This partnership announcement follows the announcement last month by The Department of Climate Change inviting applications from individuals who would like to register as greenhouse and energy auditors. A register of appropriately qualified and experienced greenhouse and energy auditors is being established under the NGER Legislation.  These auditors will need enhanced qualifications, knowledge and expertise in order to verify and ensure greenhouse emissions and energy consumption data reported by corporations are complete, accurate, reliable and transparent.

Around a 1000 Australian companies are expected to exceed greenhouse emission and energy reporting thresholds set by NGER Legislation by 2012.  Many of these companies will have to report their emissions and energy data and have it independently audited by October this year. Corporations must report their greenhouse emissions if they emitted more than 87,500 tonnes CO2 or if any facility controlled by the corporation emitted more than 25,000 tonnes CO2.

According to Mr Brah: “Taking a pro-active approach to greenhouse reporting is not just good business, it’s prudent corporate governance. Now is the time to ensure professionals involved in greenhouse emissions compliance or preparing reports for carbon disclosure have the appropriate skills and expertise.”

To register for the first GHGMI course or for further information please visit www.mygreenaudit.com or call NCS International on 1300 856 554.

Media Inquiries
Nav Brah – NCSI – 0419 226 238 – nav.brah@ncsi.com.au
Tom Godfrey – Bell George PR – 0449 681 282 – tom@bellgeorge.com

NCS International is one of Australia’s leading independent auditing and verification certification bodies and one of the largest providers of management systems auditing to the Australian utilities and resources sectors. NCS International was the first certification organization in Australia to deliver independent third party certification against ISO 14064.

Greenhouse Gas Management Institute (GHGMI) was founded in response to the growing demand for qualified greenhouse gas (GHG) professionals. Just as engineering and financial accounting relies on certified professionals, GHG emissions management requires a highly competent and ethical professionals to undertake measurement, reporting, auditing, and mitigation activities. The Institute has developed a technically rigorous GHG training curriculum authored by leading experts and delivered globally via an online e-learning portal and onsite workshops. The Institute’s mission is to train and develop a global community of experts with the highest standards of professional practice in measuring, accounting, auditing, and managing GHG emissions. This effort is critical to ensuring that market mechanisms and policy responses to climate change are effective and credible, as well as a valuable source of new green jobs. As a non-profit organisation, the Institute is training individuals and developing programs to certify professionals to meet the highest standards of expertise and ethical conduct. The Institute is for individuals and organisations, from beginners to expert practitioners, working on all aspects of climate change, including both voluntary and regulated emission markets, organisational emission inventory reporting, corporate climate risk disclosure, GHG projects for emission reductions and removal enhancements, as well as GHG assessments of supply chains, products, and technologies in various industry sectors.