This Thursday, the biggest U.S. oil and gas trade association, the American Petroleum Institute (API), unveiled a new template for climate reporting. Particularly, the new guidelines are meant for individual companies in the natural gas and oil industry to report and track greenhouse gas (GHG) indicators more consistently.
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Worth noting, API added this release as part of the industry’s Climate Action Framework announcement this spring.
About the New Climate Reporting Template
API’s template includes standards for names of indicators and units of measure. Besides, it offers detailed definitions for reporting boundaries, which can help through comparable reporting from one company to another.
The template also prompts for data on Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions. Moreover, it consists of core GHG emissions indicators that companies can voluntarily report publicly.
Similarly, the guidelines also include indicators on a company’s efforts to mitigate GHG emissions and a place to indicate a company’s GHG targets and other climate reporting resources.
Lastly, the standards include as well as a section where a company can indicate its third-party verification of GHG reporting.
GHG Mitigation Section
Worth noting, API introduced a GHG mitigation section in the reporting template, which contains indicators on the capture of CO2 for utilization or storage; also, the purchase of credits for renewable energy; and lastly, total offsets retired by the company.
Even though many companies have almost 20 years of experience in GHG indicators reporting, API noted in a media release that the new template aims to provide consistent guidelines of core GHG indicators. Mainly, the institute said, this was intending to enable greater comparability in climate-related reporting.
According to API, the template includes relevant climate-related information. Besides, the institute said it worked in consultation with its members, the financial sector, policymakers, industry customers, and other interested parties in developing the guidelines.
Accordingly, the institute expects to release additions to the template focused on GHG emissions intensity indicators later this year. In fact, API’s template is the first version of a core set of GHG indicators.
Reception
As API noted in a media release, “companies that follow the template will likely do so in 2022 to report 2021 data.” Moreover, the institute expects that individual companies will continue to report additional climate-related indicators at their discretion; particularly, to meet their stakeholders’ demands.
In this regard, API President and CEO Mike Sommers said in prepared remarks to the Houston Economic Club; In fact, “as an industry of engineers and problem-solvers, we measure and track progress in everything we do and aim to share relevant data transparently.”
Thus, “working with our members, the financial community and throughout the supply chain; this reporting template builds on our robust sustainability efforts,” said the CEO. Besides, it “elevates the consistency and comparability needed for tracking climate-related progress from company to company.”
In fact, Sommers noted that the U.S. natural gas and oil companies were among the first businesses to develop sustainability reporting. As a result, API said it would continue to expand its efforts to help companies in the sector; particularly to reduce emissions to generational lows; also while delivering affordable and reliable energy.
About API
Founded in 1919, API is an industry group that represents all segments of America’s natural gas and oil sector. Besides, it includes 600 members who support more than ten million U.S. jobs.
Finally, since its beginnings, API has been a standards-setting organization. For instance, it developed more than 700 standards to enhance operational and environmental safety, efficiency, and sustainability.
