GARP Sustainability and Climate Risk Certificate Carbon Accounting & Greenhouse Gas Inventories: practice questions

1 · Why and how GHGs are accounted; CO2-equivalence · medium

Under the GHG Protocol, how is CO2 released when a food factory burns wood chips in its boiler reported?

1. As zero in all places, because biomass is carbon neutral and the GHG Protocol asks for no disclosure of it at all
2. Inside Scope 3 category 1, because the carbon in the wood chips was absorbed by forests owned by the supplier
3. Inside Scope 1 at its full mass, because every combustion source the company owns counts as a direct emission
4. Separately, outside the scopes, as biogenic CO2, while the CH4 and N2O from the boiler are included in Scope 1

2 · Why and how GHGs are accounted; CO2-equivalence · hard

A dairy processor's covered lagoon captures and flares 4.0 t of biogenic CH4 that previously escaped. Using AR6 non-fossil CH4 GWP100 = 27.0, by how much does its Scope 1 total fall, given that flaring turns the methane into biogenic CO2 reported outside the scopes?

1. 119.2 t CO2e
2. 11.0 t CO2e
3. 108.0 t CO2e
4. 97.0 t CO2e

3 · GHG Protocol Corporate Standard: boundaries, Scopes 1 and 2 · medium

A food company owns 40% of a joint-venture processing plant and has operational control of it. The plant emits 10,000 t CO2e. How much does the company report in Scope 1 under the operational control approach?

1. 4,000 t CO2e
2. 6,000 t CO2e
3. 0 t CO2e (Scope 3 only)
4. 10,000 t CO2e

4 · GHG Protocol Corporate Standard: boundaries, Scopes 1 and 2 · medium

When must a company report both location-based and market-based Scope 2 under the GHG Protocol Scope 2 Guidance (2015)?

1. Only when the national grid factor is above the residual-mix factor in each country it operates in
2. Only when it buys renewable energy certificates covering more than half of all its electricity use in a reporting year
3. Never: it chooses one method at the start and must report only that method for every later year
4. When it has operations in markets where product- or supplier-specific contractual instruments are available

5 · Land-sector and removals accounting for companies · hard

A supplier cleared 100 ha of forest holding 150 t C/ha to plant soy, and the cleared land holds negligible carbon. Spreading land-use change emissions equally over a 20-year assessment period, what is the annual LUC emission attributed to the soy from that land?

1. 750 t CO2 per year
2. 55,000 t CO2 per year
3. 2,750 t CO2 per year
4. 27.5 t CO2 per year

6 · Land-sector and removals accounting for companies · medium

Under the GHG Protocol's land-sector and removals rules, how should a food company present a soil-carbon removal on its supplier farms alongside its agricultural emissions?

1. Report the removals only in the year of the practice change and never update them after that year
2. Subtract the removals from Scope 1 so that only the net figure appears and the gross emissions figure is never shown
3. Convert the removals into carbon credits and retire them, since in-chain removals cannot be reported
4. Report removals separately from emissions, not netted, with evidence of storage, traceability and uncertainty

7 · Base years, recalculation and targets · easy

Which change does NOT trigger recalculation of base-year emissions under the GHG Protocol?

1. Organic growth, such as higher output from existing plants
2. A change in calculation methodology for a large source
3. Discovery of a significant error in base-year data
4. Acquisition of a plant that existed in the base year

8 · Base years, recalculation and targets · hard

A grain processor sets an intensity target of 30% below its base-year 1.5 t CO2e per t of product. Base-year output was 10,000 t; target-year output is 14,000 t. If it meets the target exactly, what are its target-year absolute emissions?

1. 21,000 t CO2e
2. 14,700 t CO2e
3. 15,000 t CO2e
4. 10,500 t CO2e

9 · Science-based targets and net-zero standards, including FLAG · medium

A company's 2020 base-year Scope 1 and 2 emissions are 100,000 t CO2e. Applying the 1.5 degrees C absolute contraction rate of 4.2% per year (linear) to 2030, what is the target-year level?

1. 42,000 t CO2e
2. 65,111 t CO2e
3. 95,800 t CO2e
4. 58,000 t CO2e

10 · Verification and assurance of GHG statements · medium

Which standard was issued by the IAASB specifically for assurance engagements on greenhouse gas statements?

1. ISAE 3402
2. ISAE 3410
3. ISA 700
4. ISO 14065