Guidance Notes

General

The questions in this section relate the content and substance of your existing policies. Higher ranking companies will have policies that have clear objectives and are regularly assessed.

Question 1 - To complete yes to this question your policy must be written. It should also be published and communicated to staff.

Question 2 - Reduction objectives can be either a percentage target or a fixed sum of reduction in each of the target areas shown in the questionnaire.

Question 3 - The start date of your policy should be taken from the first date at which it was published and communicated to employees, stakeholders and clients. This could be for example the first date it was published on your website.

Question 4 - A dedicated CSR employee may be either a full time employee whose sole responsibility is CSR or for a small company an employee whose written job profile includes CSR and its management.

Question 5 - A defined budget may form part of a departmental budget but must clearly reference funds that are available to support the company policy.

Question 6 - The level at which your policy is originated is the first place in your company that the policy was actually formed. For example, If your policy was formed at a departmental or managerial level and sent to the board for approval, it is originated at departmental level.

Question 7 - For your policy to be externally verified, this requires a specialist agency to have provided support and analysis of your reduction objectives and measurement of your progress. You should not answer yes to this question if all aspects of your policy generation and its ongoing assessment are managed and measured internally.

Question 9 - Your social policy should address how your company and its activities benefits your employees, local communities. This should be non environmental impacts and should be measured. The most common forms of measurement are the amount of time your employees spend working for charitable/community projects and how much your company supports such activity with financial resource.

Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Question 10 - Please indicate all areas where you are measuring carbon dioxide emissions from your company's activities in part of whole. For further support on measurement and conversion please visit the Green Globe website for further information.

Question 11 - If you already have your emissions divided into each of these areas please submit them. The information that you should place in each scope are as follows:
Scope 1 - all fuel you burn directly on your premises and in your own equipment e.g. Gas, Oil, Petrol/Diesel for vehicles or generators.
Scope 2 - this figure should include all the emissions from electricity that you buy in for your company from the grid/power companies. Unlike gas and oil usage for power generation on site, electricity creates its emissions where it is generated, i.e. at a power station not on your premises and is not direct.
Scope 3 - in simple terms this includes all your emissions sources that are not reported in Scopes 1 & 2 and includes, employee business travel, commuting, supply chain, distribution etc. These emissions are an indirect emission; your company has some responsibility for the emissions but does not control the method of emission.

Question 12 - The methodology that you use for conversion will often depend on where you are based. The three listed are amongst the most common. The methodology is the system of conversion that you use to create a carbon dioxide value from your activities.

Question 13 - Converting activity into emissions can be done internally, but can be a complex technical process. Using an external expert to verify your emissions can help to improve accuracy and provides independence and confidence in your reported values.

Energy

Question 14 - An energy policy should be written and should have clear areas of focus and action to limit waste and reduce energy. The policy should not be a general statement on how your company intends to reduce energy usage without clear objectives.

Question 15 - The use of renewable energy should be based upon energy generated at your company premises or on land/plant owned directly by your company. Use of renewable energy supply sources such as green electricity tariffs from your electricity provider do not enable you to answer yes to this question. See Question 17 below.

Question 16 - Energy savings for the last 12 months may be for the most recent 12 month period for which your company holds records, but must be less than 12 months since the end of the last measurement period. For example if your measurement period was 10 Jan - 31 Dec 2008, the last date at which you could use this reporting period for the index would be the 30th December 2009. Energy savings and energy usage figures submitted must be for the same period.

Question 17 - Many power companies are creating electricity from renewable energy and offer special green tariffs. Choosing these tariffs can help to drive an increase in ore renewable energy delivery, if you have selected a special green tariff please indicate yes to this question. Indicate no if your company claims to be green or has no special tariff that you have subscribed for.

Water

Question 18 - Water can be measured using on site meters or using information from your water provider. In countries where mains water is supplemented by water deliveries this may include details on quantity delivered. Water values are usually expressed in litres or cubic metres and their imperial equivalent

Question 19 - Water harvesting is the process of capturing rainwater and the use of grey water in your premises. As above in question 18 measurement must be in litres.

Question 20 - Water reduction activity must be able to be supported by measurement of your activities. For example a hotel that implements a towel/linen reuse policy effectively will create laundry savings which have a water reduction impact. These should be measured against the period prior to implementing the policy. Policies that relate to water usage in toilets and bathrooms can be measured comparing pre and post policy implementation periods from your water bills.

Paper

Question 21 - Policies to reduce paper usage will be based upon actual reduction of quantity of sheets used for printing and publications, increased recycled content and reuse. Quantity should be expressed in reams (500 sheets) with the weight of paper used expressed as gsm. Paper that is FSC or an equivalent program that certifies paper is from renewable and managed forests may be used to check the yes box on this section. Where multiple paper weights and types are used it is acceptable to use an average across all paper usage in a 12 month period to complete this section.

Waste Management

Question 22 - A clearly defined waste management policy is one that has actions and objectives to reduce waste in your company. Typically this would include waste reduction, waste sorting and reuse of materials and increased recycling.

Question 23 - Amounts of recycled and composted waste may be obtained from your external waste contractors or estimated from the amount of waste that is collected in your company. This may be converted from volume (bins, sacks) to weight on an average basis.

Question 24 - To answer yes to this question it is necessary to be able to demonstrate that purchasing policy in relation to goods with recycled content forms at least 20% of your overall purchasing or represents an increase in specific areas of purchase over the last 12 months or is supported by a clear written policy that is used by individuals responsible for procurement in your company.

Supply Chain

Question 25 - To demonstrate that your procurement policy favours sustainable suppliers you will need to be able to show that your written tender process and your procurement policy have evaluation and assessment criteria for sustainable supply. It is not enough to be able to say that such suppliers are generally favoured with no supporting process.

Question 26 - The definition of a local supplier is one who is located with 20 miles or 32 kms of your company location. To be able to demonstrate that local suppliers are favoured it will be necessary to support this with written guidelines or demonstrate that local supply forms at least 30% of your total supply.

Accreditation/Disclosure

Question 27 - This question shows some large programs of certification/disclosure that are internationally recognised. If you wish to enter a program that is not mentioned it must require an examination by an external agency.

Offset

Question 28 - If your company buys offsets that are equivalent to more than 20% of your total emissions check the Yes box. Check No if your company buys small amounts of units on an ad hoc basis, for example for a specific event or activity only. You should be able to demonstrate that your purchase is supported by a written policy.

Question 29 - If you do not understand what these offset types are you must ask your offset provider what they have sold you. For further information on offsets and their definitions visit www.carbonoffsetguide.co.uk.

Question 30 - The methodology used to assess your emissions may vary from your internal assessment of emissions. To check the methodology used for your offset calculations ask your offset provider. If your provider use Radiative Forcing in the calculations of your air travel you cannot check either the DEFRA or GHG boxes. If you are still unsure enter the name of your offset provider in the freeform box.