As published yesterday Green Gold Label has been approved under SDE+ for biomass category 5 by the Dutch government. As a result of the approval various new normative documents are available against which GGL participants can be certified. In this post we will run through the main changes in each applicable document and the transition period that applies.
GGLS1 version 3-1 (COC)
The GGL chain of custody standard, which serves as the base standard of the Green Gold Label scheme, received minor changes during its update from version 3-0 to version 3-1. Requirements 4.4 and 4.5 are updated and refer to new document GGL 1c Endorsed schemes (v1-0). This allows a more flexible approach with accepting certification schemes under GGL as this document can now be updated depending on developments with approved schemes without the need to update the entire GGL COC standard.
Requirement 4.10 covers requirements for the Raw Material Statement. The requirement now refers to all sub-suppliers having to sign the statement.
Clarification has been added for requirements 4.11 - 4.14 explaining more clearly that these only apply if non-endorsed en non-GGL certified inputs are accepted in GGL product groups. In those cases GGLS5 (FM) and GGLS2 (Agricultural) apply and must be used by the participant to show compliance at supplier level.
Requirement 5.6 includes a note explaining the need to justify that the inputs are meeting the biomass categories (1 - 5) definitions as stated in the (updated) GGL glossary.
Requirement 7.2 has been removed since this was only applicable to end-users.
GGL1a instruction document version 2-2 (GHG calculations)
This document covers all the GHG calculation requirements and is applicable to each GGL participant. The GGLS1 chain-of-custody standard refers to this document under principle 10.
In general GGL1a is now closely aligned with the requirements from Biograce-II. Any potential issues with applying the calculations based on the SDE+ requirements have been fixed. As a result this document now covers exclusively the following emissions:
eec = emissions from the extraction or cultivation of raw materials;
ep = emissions from processing;
etd = emissions from transport and distribution;
eu = emissions from the fuel in use
Further changes include updated default values in appendix 7 of the instruction document covering the same values as used under SDE+. Additionally, the use of default values is restricted and only possible if other (actual) values are not available.
GGL 1b Raw Material Statement version 2-4 (template)
The updated Raw Material Statement includes explicitly the definitions for residues (biomass categories 3 - 5) to ensure that biomass input is not accepted unless these definitions are met. The statement also reflects the new requirement from GGLS1, to have the statement signed by all sub-suppliers.
GGL 1c Endorsed schemes v1-0
This document has been introduced to facilitate the change in GGLS1 (requirements 4.4 and 4.5) that previously referred to schemes endorsed by GGL (e.g. FSC and PEFC). By moving this to a separate document GGL has more flexibility to add or remove endorsed schemes based on national and international developments. Further this document can be used to include limitations placed upon certain schemes if they only partially meet GGL's requirements.
GGL 4a transaction statement version 1-2 (template)
This document is used to meet the requirements for transferring information through the supply chain to the next user or buyer of GGL certified biomass. Each GGL certified participant must use the template to communicate information on greenhouse gasses for each batch of biomass that is claimed as GGL. The template has been aligned with the changes resulting from the updated version of instruction document 1a (see above). As a result specific information can be added, for example whether default or actual GHG values have been using when calculating the GHG emissions. All GGL participants must use this document with immediate effect since the previous version (1-1) is not fully compatible with the Dutch SDE+ requirements.
GGL 4b Transaction statement guidance v1-0 (guidance on using template GGL 4a)
In addition to the updated document GGL 4a, document 4b was also introduced. This document provides guidance on using GGL 4a to ensure that participants and CB's apply the requirements from instruction document 1a in a uniform way. No new requirements are introduced in this document but GGL participants are expected to be using the document when filling out document 4a. CB's will be using the document as part of their assessments and when issuing new transaction certificates.
Transition period
A transition period has been introduced to facilitate the transition to the new versions of GGL documents. This period starts on January 24th 2019 and ends on January 24th 2020.
During the transition period GGL certified companies (participants) can use both the old and the new versions. After January 24th 2020 all companies must be certified against the latest versions of the GGL documents. After this date certificates issued against old versions of the GGL normative documents will be invalid.
CB's conducting GGL audits will be carrying audits against the new documents during each upcoming assessment in order to ensure that all companies are meeting the new requirements. The GGL participant register will be updated to include information against which GGL normative document version a certificate has been issued.
All documents can be found on the GGL website at: https://greengoldlabel.com/documents/