PCAF GHG Accounting and Reporting Requirements
Contents
PCAF GHG Accounting and Reporting Requirements
Completeness
Account for and report on all GHG emission sources and activities within the inventory boundary. Disclose and justify any specific exclusions.
Consistency
Use consistent methodologies to allow for meaningful performance tracking of emissions over time. Transparently document any changes to the data, inventory boundary, methods, or any other relevant factors in the time series.
Relevance
Ensure the GHG inventory appropriately reflects the GHG emissions of the company and serves the decision-making needs of users — both internal and external to the company
Accuracy
Ensure that the quantification of GHG emissions is systematically neither over nor under actual emissions, as far as can be judged, and that uncertainties are reduced as far as practicable. Achieve sufficient accuracy to enable users to make decisions with reasonable confidence as to the integrity of the reported information.
Transparency
Address all relevant issues in a factual and coherent manner, based on a clear audit trail. Disclose any relevant assumptions and make appropriate references to the accounting and calculation methodologies and data sources used.
Recognition
Financial institutions shall account for all financed emissions under Scope 3 category 15 (Investment) emissions, as defined by the GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Accounting and Reporting Standard. Any exclusions shall be disclosed and justified.
Measurement
Financial institutions shall measure and report their financed emissions for each asset class by “following the money” and using the PCAF methodologies. As a minimum, absolute emissions shall be measured, however avoided and removed emissions can also be measured if data is available and methodologies allow.
Attribution
The financial institution’s share of emissions shall be proportional to the site of its exposure to the borrower’s or investee’s total (company or project) value.
Data quality
Financial institutions shall use the highest quality data available for each asset class and improve the quality of the data over time.
Disclosure
Public disclosure of the results of PCAF assessments is crucial for external stakeholders and financial institutions using the methodology to have a clear, comparable view of how the investments of financial institutions contribute to the Paris climate goals.
