2. Objectives of the research
According to the literature, many different tools exist that
propose methodologies for monitoring and managing GHGs, but
the tools have some weaknesses when applied at the enterprise
level. Some of them (models proposed by IPCC and the European
Community), in fact, are hardly applicable at the organizational
level; others (the GHG Protocol and the ISO 14064-1), even if
created as tools for the enterprise, show limits because they do not
have any objective criteria for selecting the processes that cause
indirect emissions, and thus may have meaningful impacts on
climate change. These processes, of which the organization has
indirect control, are part of its supply chain. Adopting a supply
chain perspective might be very important for reducing GHG
emissions. The scientific community considers life cycle thinking as
the correct approach to use when environmental impact analysis is
conducted. The scientific community also considers the impacts of
indirect activities (not under the organization’s direct control.
Therefore, to answer to the demands of GHG reporting and
management at an organizational level, and to correctly identify
the direct and indirect activities that cause emissions, it is necessary
to consider life cycle thinking [17], which, although formulated
for different contexts, has proved itself useful in a business context.