Events: International Developments in Carbon and Environmental Footprinting organized by PEF from 8-9 Oct 2013

1st PEF World Summit

International Developments in Carbon and Environmental Footprinting

Berlin, 8-9 October 2013

The programme of the 1st PEF World Summit* comprises contributions on the EU Environmental Footprint Initiative as well as on worldwide developments in carbon and environmental footprinting, especially from the Americas, East Asia and East Africa. The summit is complemented withbusiness and stakeholder perspectives.

In a relaxed atmosphere of the Borsig Estate, an old agricultural holding in the environs of Berlin, the following topics will be handled in plenary sessions and dedicated tracks:

• International carbon & environmental footprint standards and initiatives
• Sustainability benchmarking of products and suppliers
• Product category and sector level implementation
• Carbon & environmental footprinting at scale
• Implications of carbon & environmental footprinting and trade

Selection of confirmed speakers

• Mark Barthel | WRAP, UK: Mark will report on the advancement of the Product Sustainability Forum (PSF) and the refinement of their hotspot approach for improving the environmental performance of consumer goods.
• Sylvain Chevassus | Ministry of Sustainable Development, France: The environmental labelling programme in France continues – Sylvain will describe the next steps, including possible options for communication.
• Cynthia Cummis | WRI/WBCSD GHG Protocol, USA: Cynthia will discuss how the GHG Protocol Corporate and Scope 3 Standards can be used to address environmental impacts beyond GHGs.
• Christian Dietrich | Systain, Germany: The Carbon Performance Improvement Initiative (CPI2) is an initiative of textile and footwear retailers aiming to reduce carbon emissions in their supply chains. Christian will explain the benchmarking function and other features of the tool.
• Jim Fava | UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, France: In his keynote speech “40 years of Life Cycle Approaches – from Coca Cola to Product Environmental Footprinting & Beyond” Jim will take a step back and take a look where we came from and where life cycle thinking can lead us.
• Michele Galatola | DG Environment, European Commission, Belgium: Michele will present the selected participants of the EU Environmental Footprint pilot phase and describe the following process. Thereby he will also refer to the second wave of pilots that will start in early 2014 and cover food/feed/drink products and sectors.
• Martina Hauser | Ministry of the Environment, Italy: Martina will give an overview on the Italian Environmental Footprint Programme and discuss it in the European context. Selected case studies from the participating companies like car manufacturer Lamborghini will complete the session.
• Ulf Jaeckel | Ministry of Environment, Germany: Based on the ongoing evaluation of the EU environmental footprint process, Ulf will share an adjusted perspective of the German Ministry of Environment.
• Annemarie Kerkhof | ECOFYS, Netherlands: Annemarie will host a workshop on avoided GHG emissions (Scope 4) and address the issue how those reductions in a credible and comparable can be communicated by companies.
• Euan Murray | The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), USA: Euan will update on TSC activities with a focus on decisions taken  in relation to EU Environmental Footprint pilot phase.
• Chien-Jen Shih | Taiwan Environmental Management Association (TEMA), Taiwan: The lessons learned during the development of the Carbon Labelling System in Taiwan are presented by Chien-Jen and complemented with an outlook on the future of the initiative.

A preliminary programme including a list of confirmed speakers and sessions is available soon!

August Early Bird registration is possible till 31st August!

You can find all travel information including suggestions for your accommodation and according directions here.

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Background: The EU Environmental Footprint Initiative

In spring 2013 the European Commission released the Communication on “Building the Single Market for Green Products” with a Recommendation on the use of the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) and the Organisation Environmental Footprint (OEF) methods. This initiative is welcomed by the majority of EU member states and can form the basis for potential regulations on product sustainability on the EU internal market. For the refinement of the methodology many companies, associations and national govenrments (EU and non-EU) are preparing their applications for the environmental footprint pilot phase starting in September 2013. Deadline for the application to the first wave of pilots is already 26th July (2nd wave will be early 2014). The completion of the pilot process is due 2017.

Scroll down for an informative video on the EU Environmental Footprint Initiative or follow this linkto find further information.

*Formerly announced as 9th PCF World Summit

PEF Policy Conference

Outlook on the EU pilot and testing project on environmental footprinting and the development of Environmental Footprint Category Rules | Michele Galatola (DG Environment, European Commission) Slides: here

For more information: http://www.pef-world-forum.org/summit/1st-pef-world-summit/