Mar 252010
 

Your business may decide to prepare a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and report for reasons such as regulatory compliance, reporting to stakeholders, preparing your corporate annual report, or understanding your climate change related risks. Whatever the reasons, you will need competent people to conduct the work. How do you find such people?

As mentioned in my earlier post, if your Canadian business has internal staff with good greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory experience and they have availability, then you may be all set to go. But that’s not the case for most businesses. Even with good internal engineering and accounting teams, you may still benefit from the guidance of an external professional consultant, especially for setting up your first inventory and report. How do you find a good professional consultant?

If you are looking for help in accounting, you may look for a Chartered Accountant. If you are looking for help in engineering, you may look for a Professional Engineer. Both are recognized Canadian professional designations in their fields. But what about the field of greenhouse gas emissions quantification? What is the Canadian professional designation in that field?

There are two professional certification programs on greenhouse gas emissions quantification applicable to Canada: (1) CSA GHG Inventory Quantifier, (2) CECAB GHG Quantifier.

CSA Greenhouse Gas Inventory Quantifier certification is developed by the Canadian Standards Association. Its aim is to ensure certified personnel are competent in compiling GHG inventories. The program is developed, operated, and maintained under the structure of ISO 17024, the international standard for operators of certification programs.

The program was launched in July 2009. CSA maintains an online directory of professionals already certified under this program. You can even search for those located in your city. It’s a fairly new program and there are not a great number of certified professionals listed yet.  As an example, when I checked in January 2010 there were 6 certified professionals in Ontario, 1 of them in Toronto, 1 in B.C. who is in Vancouver. The numbers grew quickly, however. By March, there are 13 in Ontario, 7 of them in Toronto, 4 in B.C., 3 of them in Vancouver. One would expect the numbers to grow in the coming months and years, hopefully just in time to meet the demand from the new mandatory reporting regulations in Ontario, B.C., and other provinces.

CECAB Greenhouse Gas Quantifier is developed by the Canadian Environmental Certification Approvals Board. Its aim is to certify practitioners qualified to quantify, assess and report emissions and emissions reductions that result from the activities of organizations, entities, facilities or GHG emissions reduction projects. I don’t know how many CECAB certified quantifiers there are currently as CECAB does not offer an online directory like the one at CSA. And since the program was only launched in October 2009, there might be few certifications awarded at this point.

These are the two Canadian certification programs that I am aware of. If you know of others, please kindly let me and other readers know by leaving a comment below.

Do you or your business have experience working with CSA certified, CECAB certified, or non-certified greenhouse gas emissions quantification professionals? If so, you may want to share your experience below.

I plan to write a similar post focused on finding certified GHG verifiers. Unlike a quantifier who prepares inventories and reports, a verifier’s focus is on verifying reports prepared by others, similar to an audit.

Derek Wong is a recognized expert at ShareGreen by Walmart, panel judge for Earth Day Canada, keynote speaker at Skills for the Green Economy, and guest speaker at University of Toronto. His innovative approach to employee engagement has led to case studies. Reach him by email or LinkedIn.

  15 Responses to “How To Find Certified Greenhouse Gas Reporting Professionals”

  1. CSA standards is technically not a Canadian group. Certification is offered from their US office and is considered part of CSA America. This was likely done to get around the highly suspicious scheme of both providing training AND issue certification designations, a notion that is prohibited by the Standards Council of Canada in order to obtain their accreditation.

  2. Hello Derek,

    Just went to your blog, its really helpful and informative. I am thinking to take courses from GHG Management Institute. What do you think, if I want my career in GHG Accounting field in Canada, which one is better, GHG Institute or CSA?

    Thanks

  3. Thanks for your kind words about my blog, Hiral!

    GHG Management Institute is another organization that offers GHG emission quantification certifications. Instead of focusing on Canada, they are an international organization.

    Much like the CSA and CECAB certifications mentioned in this post, the ones offered by the GHGMI are also quite new. As such, there are not many certified people as of this writing, in Canada or abroad. That may change in the near future.

    Generally, you take the GHGMI certification exams after completing the required courses. These courses are offered by GHGMI online. If you think you already have the knowledge and experience to be certified, you may ask for an exemption to take the certification exam without taking their courses.

    In terms of choosing between GHGMI and CSA, since these certifications are so new, none of them has really established a reputation in the Canadian markets. I have not seen clients demanding particular certifications from consultants doing their work yet. That may change in the future, of course. Perhaps, I could suggest you talk to the people from where you plan to use your certificate. This could be your potential employers or potential clients. Ask them how your certificates may influence their choices. If you do so, please share your findings with us.

    Good luck, Hiral.

  4. I am an environmental professional working in South East Asia and intend to do a certification course on Greenhouse Gas Emission Quantification/ Verifier.

    I would like to know if there are any any certification courses that I can pursue from here. Thanks in advance!

  5. Hi S A, I have heard that CSA is setting up a certification service in Hong Kong. You might want to contact CSA. Good luck!

    http://www.csa-america.org

  6. Hi Derek. Thank you for letting S A know that CSA is gearing up to offer on-line certification exams in Hong Kong. We have identified a secure testing center and will be working with our office in Hong Kong to help with customer inquiries. In the meantime, inquiries can be directed through the CSA America website. S A may also be interested to know that the Hong Kong Productivity Council is planning to launch GHG training courses that focus on the ISO 14064 standards.
    Regards
    Valerie

  7. Hi Valerie,

    Many thanks for your note.

    It would be great, if you can share details on by when CSA will start their courses from HK office.

    Any related courses for we can have it from Singapore?

    Regards
    S A

  8. Humber College in Toronto is offering a GHG Quantifier Program in June 2011. Please visit this link for more info. http://calendardb.humber.ca/LIS/WebCalendar/CE/CourseOffering.do?name=CMPA_104

  9. Good to know about the course at Humber. Thanks, Denis.

  10. I have not seen clients demanding particular certifications from consultants doing their work yet. That may change in the future, of course. Perhaps, I could suggest you talk to the people from where you plan to use your certificate.

  11. Need information or looking for a third party to verify your 2010 emissions for you get in touch with me we can help!

  12. CSA did not respond to my applications to write their examination in South Africa. I also tried via Kryterion but never won.

  13. Her in this blog they have given some points that how you should find certified greenhouse gas emission quantification,Thanks for such a nice post.
    online green office certification

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