What is its purpose?
To drive larger companies to measure and report on their GHG emissions giving them and their key stakeholders visibility of their energy consumptions and emissions as a first step to take more control and ultimately drive reductions.
Does it affect me?
Yes if:
You are a quoted company – meaning you are UK incorporated and your equity share capital is officially listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange, officially listed in a European Economic Area or is admitted to dealing on either the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ.
Measure and report on your GHG emissions as part of the annual director’s report or strategic report.
What do you need to do to comply?
Measure and report on your GHG emissions as part of the annual director’s report or strategic report. Although there is no prescribed methodology as to how you should identify and report on your emissions Government guidelines state that ‘robust and acceptable methods should be used such as the GHG Protocol Corporate standard’ and have produced a guidelines document on environmental reporting that you can view here.
What are the consequences for not complying?
Repercussions for non-compliance under Mandatory GHG reporting aren’t as clear cut as those for non-compliance with other carbon and energy legislation. The Regulation comes under the Companies Act 2006 with enforcement being carried out by the Conduct Committee of the Financial Reporting Council. Under this legislation the directors could be fined (although to-date there is no obvious evidence this has happened yet) or the directors could be required to revisit their Strategic Report and ensure that the GHG reporting section is complete and updated in-line with the reporting requirements highlighted in the Companies Act 2006.
What can you do to minimise the impact?
As a mandatory requirement, it has to be done so anything that reduces the workload or costs of the measuring and reporting will help lessen the impact – you could look at an energy management system like ISO 50001 which will help make the information you need more readily available and reduce the resources required to compile the report.
How can EEF help?
For help and guidance on carbon and energy legislation, call 0808 168 5874.
See the rest of our microguides and other advice on carbon and energy compliance issues.