CBI makes plea on emissions

By Fiona Harvey, Environment Correspondent
Published: May 11 2009 01:41

Companies should use a single common standard for reporting their greenhouse gas emissions under new government regulations, the CBI employers’ group will urge this week.
Mid-size companies will be obliged to monitor and report their greenhouse gas emissions from 2012, though the government has not yet decided how big companies must be before they fall under this requirement.

The move, which was enshrined in law in last year’s Climate Change Act, will mean many thousands of companies will have to report their emissions for the first time, a process for which most are unprepared.
Officials at the Department of Energy and Climate Change are devising the method by which a certain group of about 5,000 larger companies – such as retailers, banks and hospitals – should report their emissions.
But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is also at work on a separate standard by which smaller companies should report their greenhouse gas output.
The CBI is concerned that the outcome from each department may be different, leaving companies with differing standards which would cause confusion.
Neil Bentley, director of business environment at the CBI, said: “There is huge business angst around the reporting process, and the cost of doing it. It could become very complex for companies.”
The CBI is urging the government to adopt a modified version of an international monitoring and reporting method, called the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. The employers’ body will suggest some modifications to make it better suited to British businesses in a report to be published later this week.
Mr Bentley said adopting the international standard would help businesses by simplifying the process of reporting emissions, which would help to avoid any backlash over red tape.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009