PAS 2070 is the only internationally recognised standard for the assessment of GHG emissions of an entire city or urban area.

Using internationally recognised GHG accounting and reporting principles, cities/urban areas complete an assessment of the carbon and GHG emissions of a city to PAS 2070 standards. Further, we can extend the use of PAS 2070 to begin to create powerful inventories of carbon emissions across the city.

The standard specifies requirements for the assessment using two methodologies that provide different and complementary results. The assessment methodologies are:

1. direct plus supply chain (DPSC) methodology.
2. a consumption-based (CB) methodology.

Using PAS 2070 to calculate the carbon emissions of the city allows the local authority to make a verified and independently certificated claim of conformity. This provides validity and certainty about the assessment process used.

PAS 2070 aims to provide a robust and transparent method for consistent, comparable, and relevant quantification, attribution and reporting of city-scale greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This will encourage more holistic GHG assessments, greater disclosure, and more meaningful benchmarking to help city decision makers identify key emission sources and their drivers, the carbon dependence of their economy, and opportunities for more efficient urban supply chains.

PAS 2070 is intended for international application. It can be used by organizations or individuals assessing GHG emissions of a city or an urban area, such as municipal or national governments, academic researchers, consultants, and others. It usually takes months from start to finish to be certified to PAS 2070.