Westchester Action Plan, 2008 - Westchester County Government

ICLEI, in conjunction with the U.S. Green
Building Council and the Center for American
Progress (CAP), has developed a new tool for
members that addresses sustainability: the Star
Community Index iv . It provides a new,
standardized framework for local governments to
plan, track and claim their environmental and
sustainability work.
Clean Air-Cool Climate has a tool kit to assist
colleges and universities in making their
campuses more climate friendly. The tool kit
includes an inventory calculator v designed for
use by colleges and universities.
The CCP campaign is structured
around five milestones that local
governments commit to undertake.
Milestone 1. Conduct a baseline
emissions inventory and forecast.
Milestone 2. Adopt an emissions
reduction target for the forecast year.
Milestone 3. Develop a Local Action
Plan through a multi-stakeholder
process. Milestone 4. Implement
policies and measures contained in their
Local Action Plan. Milestone 5.
Monitor and verify results.
Businesses and similar organizations may find
that developing an inventory is more complex.
There are many decisions that must be made
regarding ownership of emissions and what
emissions to include. For example, if a business
ships merchandise using an independent
transporter, the emissions could be considered to
belong to the business or to the transporter.
To assist in the decisions, protocols exist that
define proper accounting processes.
Unfortunately, these protocols are not always
consistent. In deciding on the appropriate
protocol, organizations have to consider the
purposes for their inventory. For example, some
organizations may choose to become members
of EPA’s Climate Leaders vi and make a
commitment to voluntary reductions. If so, they
would need to consider Climate Leaders
guidance vii in developing their inventory.
Westchester County Airport is
developing a GHG inventory using the
ISO 14064-1 Standard. The scope of
the inventory includes emissions from:
- the landing and takeoff of aircraft;
- all stationary sources such as boilers,
furnaces and generators;
- all ground based mobile equipment
such as transport equipment operated
by the airport, its tenants, or its
contracted operators; and
- vehicle rentals where such rentals
originate and terminate at a car rental
facility located at the airport.
Not included are buses, limos or
personal vehicles utilized by passengers.
Ceres Climate Risk Toolkit for Corporate Leaders viii can help companies assess and understand
their risk and vulnerability to climate change. Developed by Ceres and the Investor Network on
Climate Risk, the toolkit is targeted at corporate leaders and directors to assist them in
addressing the strategic and financial challenges associated with global climate change.
Attachment 4: Getting Started
Westchester Action Plan, 2008 4-2