What We do

The course was held in Los Angeles in January with delegates from across the United States and in Athens in June with attendees from Greece, Turkey and Germany.

The course provides the basic practical skills for verification work. The attending delegates will progress onto undertaking a range of assurance engagements, including verifications against such criteria as ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory consolidation), the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, the California Air Resources Board GHG emissions cap-and-trade program, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and AA1000.

The classroom based training is wholly practical involving four cases studies of increasing complexity and sensitivity. The course is enlivened by realistic role play and innovative learning techniques.

Synergy believes that people learn best when having fun so this course is designed to engage delegates throughout with minimal ''PowerPoint Prozac''.

The feedback to the courses was extremely positive:
• “Very effective and interactive training”
• “”Very professional, realistic and keeps you engaged throughout”

Previous events have also been well received across Europe, North and South America and Asia.
• "One of the more impressive corporate trainings I've experienced - internal or external", Las Vegas event delegate.
• “Intensive, very interesting and enjoyable at the same time”, Rotterdam event delegate.
• “Inspiring training”, Rotterdam event delegate.

During 2016 Synergy has assured Anglian Water Services Ltd against the new publicly available specification (PAS) 2080:2016 – Carbon Management in Infrastructure. This is the first verification undertaken against PAS2080 anywhere in the world. The engagement was undertaken on behalf of an international verification body.

Reducing carbon emissions associated with infrastructure is fundamental to addressing the global challenge of climate change. PAS 2080 is applicable to anyone involved in the delivery of infrastructure, including asset owners/managers, designers, constructors and product/material suppliers. PAS 2080 is a specification for whole life asset carbon management. It provides a common framework for all infrastructure sectors and value chain members, on how to manage whole life carbon when delivering infrastructure assets and programmes of work.

Anglian Water has demonstrated compliance with PAS 2080 and thus demonstrated that it fully understands and manages carbon associated with the development of infrastructure from its inception to the end of its life.

This PAS includes requirements to show the right leadership and to establish effective governance systems for reducing whole life carbon through the use of a carbon management process.

The individual value chain requirements in the carbon management process are structured around the following components that Anglian Water had to demonstrate compliance with:
• setting appropriate carbon reduction targets;
• determining baselines against which to assess carbon reduction performance;
• establishing metrics (e.g. Key Performance Indicators) for credible carbon emissions quantification and reporting;
• selecting carbon emissions quantification methodologies (to include defining boundaries and cut off rules);
• reporting at appropriate stages in the infrastructure work stages to enable visibility of performance; and
• continual improvement of carbon management and performance.

Synergy has designed and delivered two training courses to Deloitte on behalf of an international training organisation during May and June, 2016. These were purposed designed for the Deloitte team involved in providing environmental services to clients.

Implementing an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System
The first course concerned the recently revised ISO14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems standard. The course provided knowledge regards the design and implementation an effective Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and the preparation for ISO 14001 certification.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Quantification / ISO14064 Tailored Training
This course encompassed the basics of GHG quantification (‘carbon foot-printing’) and organisational GHG inventory consolidation.

Both courses were well received. “Amazing – one of the best trainings (sic) I’ve ever received”.

Synergy has validated the sequestered carbon in a forestry scheme - Scottish Farm Carbon Limited on behalf of an international verification body during 2015-16.

Scottish Farm Carbon (SCF) is a co-op that is being operated by SAOS, the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society which is a co-operative supporting farmers. This scheme involves farmers who are prepared to ‘bank’ their carbon offsets from farm woodland with the co-op so that it can accumulate enough tonnes to sell to customers. It represents a source of income from farm woodlands. It is envisaged that the value of carbon will, in time, be an important incentive to encourage farmers to plant more woodland on land that is too poor for growing food, but excellent for growing trees.

The need for high integrity offsets for customers is critical to the credibility of such schemes.

What is sequestered carbon?
Carbon sequestration is the process involved in carbon capture and the long-term storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon sequestration involves long-term storage of carbon dioxide or other forms of carbon to either mitigate or defer global warming and avoid dangerous climate change. It has been proposed as a way to slow the atmospheric and marine accumulation of greenhouse gases, which are released by burning fossil fuels.

Trees are excellent at sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and retaining it for long periods in their wood and soil

What are ‘offsets’?
A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate for or to offset an emission made elsewhere.

What does high integrity mean?
A woodland creation project should be a sustainably managed woodland and SCF has implemented requirements to ensure this.

Permanence - The climate benefits of forest carbon sequestration may be compromised through human or natural disturbances, such as fire, felling or insect infestation. In such cases, the carbon stored in a forest project may be emitted to the atmosphere. To guard against these kinds of possibilities, SCF has applied an appropriate buffer for each woodland to ensure that any verified carbon units are 'permanent'.

Additionality - For a project to be 'additional' it must be shown to remove additional amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere compared to what would have happened in the absence of a forest carbon market.

Carbon accounting - Projects should account for the sequestration and emissions of the project in all relevant carbon pools. This should be compared to the baseline scenario, or what would have happened in the absence of the project and also adjusted for leakage, or changes to carbon stocks outside the project boundary as a result of the project going ahead.

Avoiding double counting - The scheme as a whole needs to make sure that carbon from each project is only counted once. The SCF database records the status of each project and tracks the listing, ownership, and use of each carbon unit.

What is validation?
Validation is a process to evaluate the reasonableness of the assumptions, limitations, and methods that support a statement about the outcome of future activities.

In the last ten years Paul Jackson (MD of Synergy) has verified in excess of 5 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) and carried out over 1,200 audit days.

Approximately 15% of this 5 billion tCO2e was verified to reasonable assurance with the remainder to a limited level of assurance (see below). The total verified includes different categories of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:
• Scope 1 (direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions), e.g. direct fuel combustion
• Scope 2 (energy indirect GHG emissions), e.g. electricity usage
• Scope 3 (other indirect GHG emissions) e.g. such as those from product use

What is carbon dioxide equivalent?
Carbon dioxide equivalent is a measure used to compare the emissions from various greenhouse gases (GHGs) based upon their global warming potential. For example, the global warming potential for methane over 100 years is 25 (according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change AR4, 2007). This means that emissions of one million metric tons of methane is equivalent to emissions of 25 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.

What is verification?
The Oxford English Dictionary definition is “the action of establishing or testing the accuracy or correctness of something, especially by investigation or by comparison of data.”

What is the purpose of verifying GHG emissions (CO2e)?
Certain installations must have their inventories of GHG emissions verified by law, such as within the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The carbon dioxide in the EU ETS is a tradeable (fungible) commodity and as such it therefore has a financial value. This value consequently generates the need for a high level of confidence in the data (termed reasonable assurance – see below).

An organisation may also wish to demonstrate to others that the GHG data within their inventory (carbon footprint) is reliable. This could be for investors for instance that require confidence in the data so that the risks associated can be carefully considered and compared. There are various verification criteria for such non-mandatory assurance engagements, including the international standard ISO14064-1 (Specification with guidance at the organization level for quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and removals).

Above all however, an organisation needs reliable GHG data to ensure the correct management decisions are made when considering carbon management, energy efficiency and cost savings. Having GHG data verified provides confidence to the users of the data.

What is the difference between reasonable and limited levels of assurance?
The level of assurance defines the level to which a verifier is confident that reported data and information (taken as a whole) has been proved (or not) to be free from material error, omission or misstatement. The level of assurance dictates the depth to which the verification work must go to determine if any such issues are present.

Reasonable assurance provides a higher degree of confidence than limited assurance due to a high/moderate degree of scrutiny and sampling down to the raw / source data. Limited assurance is provided by a restricted degree of scrutiny by sampling down to a level of aggregated data only.

For any help in quantifying or verifying your organisation’s GHG inventory (carbon footprint) please contact us.

Synergy has recently developed a range of public training courses for several international certification bodies for the revised environmental management systems (EMS) standard ISO14001:2015. These range from a one-day introduction to an in-depth week long specialist environmental manager’s course.

What is an Environmental Management System (EMS)?
An EMS is a structured framework for managing an organisation's significant impacts on the environment.

What is ISO14001?
ISO14001 was first published as BS7750 in 1992 and was the first international environmental standard. In 2014, over 300,000 organisations had EMS accredited certification to ISO14001 (www.iso.org/iso/iso-survey). ISO 14001 specifies the requirements for an EMS that an organisation can use to enhance its environmental performance, fulfil compliance obligations and achieve its objectives. It is intended for use by an organisation seeking to manage its environmental responsibilities in a systematic manner that contributes to sustainability.

ISO14001 is applicable to any organisation, regardless of size, type and nature. It covers the environmental aspects of its activities, products and services that an organisation can either control or influence and this new version of ISO14001 requires a life cycle perspective.

Why does an organisation need an EMS?
• An EMS will help an organisation to manage and improve its environmental performance.
• It will help manage compliance with environmental laws and regulations.
• It can stimulate financial savings through efficient practices (e.g. reducing energy use and waste).
• It will increase and protect the status and reputation of an organisation.

Key changes in the revised standard are:
• The emphasis on leadership
• The focus on risk management
• Emphasis on objectives measurement and change
• Communication and awareness
• Fewer prescriptive requirements
• Increased focus on lifecycle perspective

If you are interested in training course development for your organisation please contact us.

Dave White (Strategic Learning and Development Manager at Lloyds Register Quality Assurance Limited (LRQA)) stated the following :

“Paul is one of the most honest, high integrity and hard-working consultants I have had the pleasure to do business with. Once the initial brief is clear and agreed, Paul just simply gets on with the job and always delivers to expectations, on time and often under budget.

Over the last 3 years Paul has become a highly trusted business partner for LRQA, whom I can absolutely trust to deliver on his promises. His general work rate is incredible. I have on the odd occasion advised Paul it was OK to slow down for a particular project, but he never did. That's the measure of the guy, he gets the job done.

In conclusion, I have absolutely no reservations in recommending Paul for his range of business consultancy services within the environmental, climate change, sustainability, CSR and general management systems areas.”

The need for assurance services around the world is growing. Assurance can be defined as: ‘a declaration intended to give confidence’ and is fulfilled during an Assurance Engagement. In essence, it is confirming that an organisation is ‘telling the truth’.

It is easy to see in this day and age how such ‘assurance’ is important, from a company’s ‘green’ claims to a manufacturer’s commitment that ‘no child labour has been involved’. An organisation’s reputational risks can be very high. The process of independent external verification to assure any type of data, whether this is a single number or statement, a full report, a product ingredient list, a video or webpage, etc, is powerful protection against such risks.

Organisations look for the data and information to have as much ‘credibility’ as possible with their stakeholders, including the public and investors. Having that data and information verified (and therefore assured) by an external body with a reputation for impartiality helps to provide that credibility.

Synergy operates as an independent verifier but also provides specialist training to verifiers for other verification bodies such as LRQA.

Since 2008, Synergy has supported LRQA in the training of verifiers. To date, over 250 people have been through this process. Synergy has provided the following services throughout:

It is easy to see in this day and age how such ‘assurance’ is important, from a company’s ‘green’ claims to a manufacturer’s commitment that ‘no child labour has been involved’. An organisation’s reputational risks can be very high. The process of independent external verification to assure any type of data, whether this is a single number or statement, a full report, a product ingredient list, a video or webpage, etc, is powerful protection against such risks.

Organisations look for the data and information to have as much ‘credibility’ as possible with their stakeholders, including the public and investors. Having that data and information verified (and therefore assured) by an external body with a reputation for impartiality helps to provide that credibility.

Synergy operates as an independent verifier but also provides specialist training to verifiers for other verification bodies such as LRQA.

Since 2008, Synergy has supported LRQA in the training of verifiers. To date, over 250 people have been through this process. Synergy has provided the following services throughout:

• Design, provision and maintenance of modular e-learning courses including:
  - Fundamental verification principles, concepts and terminology
  - ISO14064 series of standards concerning the quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions (so called ‘carbon foot-printing’)
  - Report Verification (Corporate Social Responsibility, Global Reporting Initiative, etc)
  - EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS)
  - Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
  - Joint Implementation (JI)
• Design, update and delivery of classroom based courses. These teach basic verification skills through a series of practical case studies during a five or three day face to face course. These have been delivered worldwide, e.g. Atyrau, Coventry, Las Vegas, Lyon, Mumbai, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo, Zoetermeer.
• Delegate exam marking and feedback for e-learning and classroom courses.
• Mentoring of specific delegates through areas of concern or weakness in their verification knowledge.
• Maintenance of verification body training records for all delegates and the provision of regular delegate status updates.

Synergy provides a range of compliance services, such as auditing, legislation updates, management system development and maintenance.

The provision of a legal compliance audit combined with the provision of a bespoke register of legislation is one of the most popular services. Many clients regularly use this service, including architects, food companies, utilities, project managers, pharmaceutical companies, etc.

Several sites in the Kerry Group for example have utilised this service since 2006. The Kerry Group is a global ingredients, flavours and consumer food group. It markets some of the best known and best performing brands in the chilled food sector such as Wall’s, Mattessons, and Dairygold amongst many others.

Synergy undertakes a detailed and efficient compliance audit every six or twelve months depending on the site. A comprehensive report is produced providing compliance performance information to management. This can then be used within, or without, a formal management system. This is complemented by the provision of a detailed register of legislation that is specific to the location and its activities, products and services.

This service ensures organisations are fully aware of their compliance status and the increasingly complex and changing legal environment that they operate within. It is also a fundamental component of various international standards that many companies have to comply with, including ISO14001, the International Environmental Management System Standard. Such standards have become essential business tools.

In 2006 Synergy was asked by ScottishPower’s (SP) corporate environmental team (Generation Division) to develop an on-line environmental legislation training course suitable for a range of staff from a wide variety of facilities.

SP Generation’s assets include power generating facilities based on coal, gas and hydro-electricity throughout the UK, as well as a major gas storage facility and a sewage sludge processing plant. Other provider’s had failed to complete this project due to the complexity of the task and the requirement to cover all relevant legislation throughout the UK. The project was completed on time and within budget.

The on-line training course that was developed is modular and staff can choose to complete whichever parts are appropriate to their responsibilities and locations. The modules include amongst other things:

• A General Introduction to Environmental Legislation, the Regulators and the Obligations on Business
• Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control
• Air Pollution
• Water Pollution and Water Use
• Waste
• Planning
• Contaminated Land
• Nuisance and Noise
• Major Incidents
• Hazardous Substances
• Radioactive Materials
• Wildlife and Biodiversity

The course modules have been updated since development to ensure that they remain current with legislation, organisational changes and devolution in the UK.

Synergy was also tasked with developing a classroom environmental course for SP engineers. This compliments the modular on-line course but uses practical case studies. This one day course has to be suitable for engineers from all types of site and specialism, whether this is civil, electrical or project staff.

This classroom course uses a variety of media, including practical exercises, DVDs and role play.

This Environment for Engineers course is regularly updated and is delivered several times a year at various SP locations. It is always engaging and is consistently well received.

The South Hook LNG (SHLNG) terminal is a liquefied natural gas regasification facility on the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.

It is one of the largest LNG terminals in Europe and it has the ability to regasify around 20% of the UK’s natural gas requirements.It is strategically important to the UK and it is part of a fully integrated supply chain that stretches from the gas fields off the north east coast of Qatar to the deep waterway of Milford Haven, West Wales.

Synergy has been providing environmental consultancy support to the South Hook LNG Terminal Company Ltd since 2013. This specifically relates to energy management and climate change, including the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) and Environmental Permitting Regulations.

Considerable support is provided for the EU ETS. This trading scheme is a cornerstone of the EU’s policy to combat climate change and its key tool for reducing industrial greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It is the first, and still by far the biggest, international system for trading greenhouse gas emission allowances. It covers more than 11,000 power stations and industrial plants in 31 countries, as well as airlines.

The EU ETS works on the 'cap and trade' principle. A 'cap', or limit, is set on the total amount of certain greenhouse gases that can be emitted by the factories, power plants and other installations in the system. The cap is reduced over time so that total emissions fall.

Synergy helps SHLNG prepare for the annual external verification of the EU ETS annual GHG emissions and the submissions to the regulator, Natural Resources Wales. The quantification of greenhouse gases must be undertaken to a high level of confidence as there are financial implications. These derive from the fact that greenhouse gases are a tradable commodity and also that installations face severe penalties for non-compliance with the rules of the scheme.

Synergy helps SHLNG maintain compliance and ensure reliable data management and GHG quantification. This also involves ensuring the accuracy of the installation’s GHG Permit and associated monitoring and reporting plan.

ScottishPower’s Longannet Power station is situated on the north bank of the Firth of Forth, near Kincardine Bridge. It has a generating capacity of 2,400 megawatts and became fully operational in 1970. It is the third largest coal-fired station in Europe, after Bechatów in Poland and Drax in England.

The site comprises the main generating station along with the Longannet and Valleyfield ash lagoons.

Synergy has supported the environmental management team at ScottishPower’s Longannet Power Station for over 10 years through a range of activities.

This has included the implementation and maintenance of a robust environmental audit regime that provides reliable performance information to site management for analysis, review and strategic planning.

Effective audits must evaluate compliance with site procedures, corporate standards, applicable legislation and relevant environmental ‘licences’. Comprehensive quarterly audits have been undertaken for the last 10 years. This has been crucial to the site for satisfying the requirements of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency by ensuring compliance with the various site authorisations, including the main station Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) permit and also those associated with the ash lagoons.

Maintaining an effective auditing regime is also an integral requirement for retaining certification to ISO14001 (the International Environmental Management System Standard) and achieving registration to the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme.

Synergy has also assisted in the maintenance of the site environmental management system procedures and manuals. On occasion interim management support has also been provided during staff long term absence.

Synergy is very proud to be part of the Longannet Team.

Synergy continues to work with several organisations, including Shell International to verify their global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“A very special thanks and recognition is due to Paul Jackson who has been with us on this journey from day one. Paul is a master of what is known in Australia as “the art of painless auditing”. It is a bit like a dentist who gets the job done without inflicting too much pain. I fear sometimes that we have inflicted “pain” on him in terms of the long hours that he has put in.” (Shell International - Greenhouse Gas Reporting Project Manager)

Shell are quantifying their annual scope 1 (direct GHG) emission and scope 2 (energy indirect GHG) emissions using the model presented by the ISO14064 standard for organisational inventory consolidation and management. Synergy is heavily involved in the corporate level work to verify the GHG data and ensure conformance with the aforementioned standard.

Corporate GHG inventory verification is becoming increasingly important due to investor pressure via the CDP and the developing globalised and regulated carbon market.

The work is being delivered on behalf of LRQA Ltd, a major international verification body. The Global Head of Climate Change & Sustainability at LRQA Ltd, described the work undertaken by Paul Jackson of Synergy, as “excellent”.

The verification work has been ongoing for several years. Significant progress has been made and verified emissions can be seen on the Shell website: www.shell.com/ghg or within the Shell annual Sustainability Report.

Paul Jackson (Synergy MD) visited various sites in Jordan in 2014 in order to verify PepsiCo’s positive water balance.

What is a positive water balance? A positive water balance means that the volume of water credit is greater than volume of water debit. For PepsiCo Jordan water debit is represented by the volume of water used in the production of the carbonated soft drinks and bottled water at their facility in Amman, Jordan.

Water credit includes the net volume of water saved from the withdrawal of ground water or supply water, and the additional ground water that is recharged through the following initiatives funded by PepsiCo Jordan :

• Additional groundwater recharged at the Wadi Al Ahmar and Abu Kataf Dams.
• Rainwater collection in Al Jeezeh Pool for use in irrigation or for livestock.
• Well water treatment at Wadi Zqaiq for domestic use in Ajloun City.
• Wastewater treatment at the production facility in Amman for irrigation and domestic use.

The visit was a success with all project sites being visited and a positive water balance was verified. This could not have been achieved without the dedication and skill of the PepsiCo staff involved. The trip was eventful with flash floods in Amman and beyond, that made travelling a challenge. The trip was a memorable adventure and the hospitality of the Jordanian people will not be forgotten.

Synergy was commissioned to verify PepsiCo Jordan's positive water balance on behalf of an international Verification Body.

Synergy has designed a specialist verification skills training course that has been delivered in various countries including Brazil, France, USA, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Japan and the UK.

This event was held in Rotterdam with delegates from Romania, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

The course provides the basic practical skills for verification work. The attending delegates will progress onto undertaking a range of assurance engagements, including verifications against such criteria as ISO14064 (Greenhouse Gas Inventory consolidation), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), AA1000, the UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation and Emissions Trading.

The classroom based training is wholly practical involving four cases studies of increasing complexity and sensitivity. The course is enlivened by realistic role play and innovative learning techniques.

Synergy believes that people learn best when having fun so this course is designed to engage delegates throughout with minimal ''powerpoint prozac''.

The feedback to the course was extremely positive:

• “Inspiring training”
• “Intensive, very interesting and enjoyable at the same time”

Synergy delivered this specific event on behalf of an international Verification Body.

Previous events have also been well received. "One of the more impressive corporate trainings I've experienced - internal or external", Las Vegas event delegate.