PAS 2050:2011

This Publicly Available Specifi cation (PAS) specifi es requirements for the assessment of the life cycle GHG emissions of goods and services (collectively referred to as “products”) based on key life cycle assessment techniques and principles. This PAS is applicable to organizations assessing the GHG emissions of products across their life cycle, and to organizations assessing the cradle-to-gate GHG emissions of products.

Requirements are specified for identifying the system boundary, the sources of GHG emissions associated with products that fall inside the system boundary, the data requirements for carrying out the analysis, and the calculation of the results.

This PAS addresses the single impact category of global warming. It does not assess other potential social, economic and environmental impacts or issues arising from the provision of products or issues associated with the life cycle of products, such as non-GHG emissions, acidifi cation, eutrophication, toxicity, biodiversity or labour standards. The life cycle GHG emissions of products, as calculated using this PAS, do not provide an indicator of the overall environmental impact of these products, such as may result from other types of life cycle assessment.

PAS 2050 is generically applicable to a wide range of goods and services. However, this revision includes principles for the preparation and use of supplementary requirements to provide a focused approach for specific industry sectors or product categories in a manner that will facilitate consistent application of PAS 2050 within the particular sector or product category.

This PAS does not specify requirements for the disclosure or communication of the results of a quantifi cation of the life cycle GHG emissions of goods and services.

PAS 2050-1 specifies supplementary requirements for use in conjunction with PAS 2050 for the cradle-to-gate assessment of the GHG emissions from the cultivation stages of horticultural products.

PAS 2050-1 is appropriate for use by organizations operating in the horticultural sector, intending to undertake a programme of GHG emission reduction of their product lifecycle or those needing to provide information on the GHG emissions from their products to downstream business partners. PAS 2050-1, which has been developed in accordance with the principles set out in clause 4.3 of PAS 2050, follows the structure and form of that PAS.

It clearly identifies where PAS 2050 requirements are to be applied without supplement and provides sectorspecifi c requirements that are supplementary to PAS 2050 requirements, where permitted by that PAS. As with PAS 2050, PAS 2050-1 addresses the single impact category of global warming potential. It does not assess other potential social, economic and environmental impacts arising from the provision of horticultural products, such as non-greenhouse gas emissions, acidification, eutrophication, toxicity, biodiversity, labour standards or other social, economic and environmental impacts that may be associated with the life cycle of such products.

An assessment of the GHG emissions of horticultural products using PAS 2050-1 in conjunction with PAS 2050, does not provide an indicator of the overall environmental impact of these products, such as may result from other types of life cycle assessment. In line with the principle adopted for PAS 2050, PAS 2050-1 does not specify requirements for communication of assessment outcomes but both directly and by reference to PAS 2050, does include specific requirements relating to how information on GHG emissions arising during the cradle-to-gate stages of horticultural products, is to be conveyed to downstream business partners.