CEMS: A New Global Industry

Carbon Emissions Management Software (CEMS) is very new class of software. Ten years ago – even five years ago – few people cared about the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) their organizations were responsible for emitting, and fewer still cared to measure it. Today, such measurement is not only seen as desirable, it is in many cases becoming mandatory.

Public and corporate understanding of climate change and of the effects of GHGs on the atmosphere have increased significantly in recent years. The Kyoto Protocol, the first real international attempt to formalize the measurement, monitoring and mitigation of GHG emissions, dates from 1997, but it is only in the last few years that most governments have started to act and that individuals and organizations have begun to realize the extent to which they are affected. The UN Climate Change Inference in Copenhagen in December 2009 has further raised public, political and corporate awareness.

Most major economies around the world have legislated the reporting of carbon emissions, and many of these have introduced, or a planning to introduce, a carbon trading scheme. A precondition of reporting is measurement, and a precondition of measurement is some sort of tool by which to conduct that measurement. Hence the development of CEMS.

This Web site provides a census of all the CEMS products available globally (cemsus = CEMS census). Over 50 CEMS vendors and the products they sell are covered, and it is constantly updated, ensuring relevant and timely information.

This site on it's own provides a guide to the products available. When used in conjunction with our extensive report Carbon Emissions Management Software: A New Global Industry, readers can become fully informed about this emerging market.

The report covers key areas including an understanding of carbon emissions and the impact on the business world, carbon emissions reporting, the emerging CEMS market, selecting and implementing CEMS, and the global emissions landscape.

Welcome to a new global industry.