PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in Calgary moves to climate change services
New roles of carbon verifiers and quantifiers governed by Canadian Standards Association
The need for environmental accounting and auditing will be heightened by planned market-based regulation. Clarity, honesty and independent verification will be required by the “cap-and-trade” schemes proposed to let owners of facilities that are unable to make rapid emissions cuts keep on operating them by buying credits from others that can do the cleanup job, Schuh says.
Proposed carbon exchanges will only work if buyers and sellers alike are satisfied that claims to value represented by the credits are true. “This is going to be a new currency,” Schuh says.
Just like the certificates or contracts traded on traditional stock, bond, commodity and money markets, carbon credits will require verification by neutral professionals, she predicts. “Independence is absolutely crucial in this.”
Accounting firms expect environmental auditing to be a growth field. PricewaterhouseCoopers already has 20 professionals in the fledgling specialty across Canada. The field has matured to the point where essential skills and training have been codified by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA).
“There are not enough qualified greenhouse gas professionals,” CSA representative Pierre Boileau told an emissions management forum held by the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada. His Ottawa-based agency predicts thousands of sites will be regulated by carbon controls, and virtually every Canadian company will need compliance specialists. Boileau predicts there is a “strong likelihood” of skullduggery with carbon record keeping and credits unless skilled personnel, committed to upholding high occupational standards, conduct thorough environmental accounting.
The CSA has established qualifications, training courses and examinations for two new environmental occupations. Greenhouse gas inventory quantifiers keep score on emissions. Greenhouse gas verifiers check and confirm the records.
The association expects wages in the new occupations to start at about $50,000 a year. Strong qualifications are demanded for admission to CSA environmental occupation programs. Verifiers especially need university degrees or lengthy practical experience — and both, ideally — because the role requires knowledge of environmental science, regulatory standards, technology, risk assessment and investigative methods.
“If you want to avoid an Enron-type scandal, you want to have professionals in this field. It’s the same risk as in the financial arena if you don’t have competent people,” Boileau says. “We’re creating green jobs.”
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