PAS 2050-2:2012

This standard PAS 2050-2:2012 Assessment of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions is classified in these ICS categories:

• 13.020.40 Pollution, pollution control and conservation

This Publicly Available Specification (PAS) establishes supplementary requirements for use in conjunction with PAS 2050:2011 for the cradle-to-gate assessment of the GHG emissions from seafood and other aquatic food products derived from both wild capture and aquaculture production.

This PAS is appropriate for use by organizations operating in the seafood and other aquatic food product sectors that are intending to undertake a programme of GHG emission reduction of their product life cycle, or those needing to provide information on the GHG emissions from their products or processes to downstream business partners or other stakeholders (e.g. environmental regulators).

This PAS has been developed in accordance with the principles on supplementary requirements as set out in PAS 2050:2011 4.3 and follows the structure and form of that PAS. Due to the specific circumstances of the seafood and other aquatic food products sectors, and the choices left open to practitioners in PAS 2050:2011, this PAS provides clarity on the issues associated with those choices and establishes supplementary requirements, in particular with regard to system boundary, allocation and land use change. It clearly identifies where PAS 2050:2011 requirements are to be applied without supplement, and provides sector-specific requirements and guidance, where permitted by PAS 2050:2011.

The scope of this PAS is limited to the cradle-to-gate stages of the life cycle, which for aquatic food products for human consumption is from fisheries or broodstock management to the incoming gate of the retail or food service and for animal consumption, is from fisheries or broodstock management to the incoming gate of the feed supplier. This is illustrated in Figure 1 below. Where an assessment of aquatic food products is to extend beyond distribution (i.e. to include retail/food service/feed supplier, use and end-of-life), the requirements of PAS 2050:2011 should be applied to the subsequent stages.

Figure 1 The scope of PAS 2050-2 in the context of PAS 2050:2011

Note 1 This PAS provides supplementary requirements for the cradle-to-gate processes up until the aquatic food product reaches the retailer, food service, or equivalent. However, as illustrated by the dashed line, cradle-to-gate boundaries can vary according to the position of the “gate”. Depending on the purpose, organizations conducting an assessment of aquatic food products may choose to position the “gate” elsewhere, or conduct a full cradle-to-grave assessment.

Note 2 Figure 1 is a simplified illustration of the life cycle of aquatic food products. The purpose of the figure is to illustrate the scope of this PAS, not to show all processes in the life cycle of aquatic food products or flows into and from the different processes.

Note 3 The simplified system representation of Figure 1 shows the feed supplier outside the cradle-to-gate boundary. However, given the potentially significant contribution of feed to the emissions of aquaculture products it is important to recognize that in its accounting for inputs of feed to the aquaculture processes an assessment needs to include the GHG emissions of the feed supplier. The figure illustrates that, in terms of aquatic food products for animal consumption, the scope of this PAS covers distribution until the receiving gate of the feed supplier or similar.

As with PAS 2050:2011, this PAS addresses the single impact category of global warming. It does not assess other potential social, economic and environmental impacts arising from the provision of seafood and other aquatic food products, such as non-GHG 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. Thus, an assessment of the GHG emissions of seafood and other aquatic food products using this PAS in conjunction with PAS 2050:2011 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 2050:2011, this PAS does not specify requirements for communication of assessment outcomes of GHG emissions assessments of seafood and other aquatic food products. However, it is recognized that there may be situations where disclosure may be required or could be appropriate. Therefore, both directly and by reference to PAS 2050:2011, it does include requirements relating to what information on GHG emissions arising during the cradle-to-gate stages of seafood and other aquatic food products are to be conveyed when disclosed to a third party (e.g. a downstream business partner).