KOBiZE: the national emissions report, its emission factors and your carbon footprint

What KOBiZE is

KOBiZE, the National Centre for Emissions Management (Krajowy Ośrodek Bilansowania i Zarządzania Emisjami), is part of the Institute of Environmental Protection, National Research Institute (IOŚ-PIB) in Warsaw. It prepares Poland’s national emission inventories, runs the National Database on emissions of greenhouse gases and other substances, handles the Polish part of the EU emissions trading registry and supports CBAM reporting.

The annual report to the National Database

Under the act on the greenhouse gas and other substances emission management system, every business whose activity causes emissions into the air reports to the National Database by the end of February each year, for the previous calendar year. In practice that includes businesses that burn fuel, for example in boilers, generators or company vehicles, and broadly matches those that report environmental use fees to the regional marshal.

You register in the online database first and then enter the report: the sources, the fuels and materials used, and the resulting emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. The report is a legal duty on its own and is separate from any carbon footprint a customer or bank asks for.

The KOBiZE emission factors

KOBiZE publishes emission factors that many Polish companies look up. Each December it publishes CO₂ and other emission factors for electricity, based on data in the National Database, for the previous year. It also publishes tables of calorific values and CO₂ emission factors for fuels, used in reporting under the EU emissions trading system.

Before you use a factor in a footprint, check three things: which year it describes, what it covers (for example electricity for end users or generation, and CO₂ only or all greenhouse gases), and whether your reader expects a particular source. Record the source and edition of every factor you use, so the figure can be checked and repeated next year.

KOBiZE report or carbon footprint

The two answer different questions. The KOBiZE report records the pollutants your own sources release, for the state’s inventories and fees. A carbon footprint under the GHG Protocol measures your company’s greenhouse gas emissions across Scope 1, Scope 2 and often Scope 3, for customers, banks and your own targets. The fuel data you collect for KOBiZE is a good start for Scope 1, but a footprint also needs your purchased electricity and heat, and usually your value chain.

Doing it in Greener Ahead

Greener Ahead does not submit KOBiZE reports. Carbon accounting in Greener Ahead calculates your carbon footprint under the GHG Protocol, with Scope 1, Scope 2 and all 15 Scope 3 categories and the source and evidence behind every tonne. It costs €1,495 per year with unlimited users, and you can try it free for 14 days without a card. Check the pricing page for current details.

KOBiZE report and carbon footprint compared

Two different reports that share some of the same data.

Using the same data for both

Collect the data once and use it twice.

• Keep fuel invoices and fuel card statements per source and per month.
• Record refrigerant top-ups from maintenance reports.
• Keep electricity and heat invoices for Scope 2, which the KOBiZE report does not cover.
• Note which emission factor, year and edition you used for each figure.
• Submit the KOBiZE report by the end of February, before you close the footprint for the year.