The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. standards and conformity assessment system, is pleased to announce the accreditation of WSP Group's Canadian operations under the Institute's Accreditation Program for Greenhouse Gas Validation/Verification Bodies. Launched in 2008, the program oversees the professional conduct of third-parties responsible for verifying the accuracy of emission assertions. With a growing global awareness of the need for environmental protection and sustainability, organizations are eager to demonstrate their efforts to inventory, report, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by turning to third-party bodies to verify their claims. The majority of existing voluntary disclosure programs as well as mandatory reporting regulations in North America require accredited third-party verification.
A member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), ANSI is the only U.S. body accrediting against ISO 14065, Greenhouse gases - Requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition, and operates under ISO/IEC 17011:2004, Conformity assessment - General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies, which represents the highest internationally accepted practices for accreditation bodies.
WSP has achieved ANSI accreditation to verify GHG assertions related to GHG emissions reductions and removals at the project level. As a third-party verification body, WSP will assess how a project proponent quantifies, monitors, and reports greenhouse gas reductions or removals against an established protocol. This process ensures the relevance, completeness, consistency, transparency, and accuracy of the emission assertion. More information on WSP's accreditation can be found on the ANSI Accreditation Directory.
"ANSI congratulates WSP for achieving ANSI accreditation for verification of assertions related to greenhouse emissions, said Lane Hallenbeck, ANSI vice president of accreditation services. "ANSI accreditation demonstrates WSP's commitment to compliance with international standards which assist in promoting the credibility and transparency of greenhouse gas assertions. Furthermore, WSP has dedicated itself to continuous improvement of its services by pledging to undergo a rigorous annual evaluation of its systems and processes."
"The verification of GHG assertions is an important service that companies expect a global firm like WSP, with its broad depth of multidisciplinary expertise, to provide. ISO 14065 accreditation is an additional demonstration that our environment services are second to none. WSP is proud to demonstrate its commitment to supporting all organizations with legal obligations related to the constantly evolving and challenging air emission and greenhouse gas regulations," said André-Martin Bouchard, national vice-president environment of WSP in Canada.
Applicable to a broad spectrum of industries, the ANSI GHG accreditation program operates according to requirements defined in the international standards ISO 14065 and ISO 14064-3:2006, Greenhouse gases - Specification with guidance for the validation and verification of greenhouse gas assertions.
For more information on the ANSI Accreditation Program for Greenhouse Gas Validation/Verification Bodies, visit www.ansi.org/ghg.