BEIS Launches Consultation on Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting

• United Kingdom

• Litigation and dispute management

19-10-2017

The government’s long awaited consultation on the future of the reporting elements of the CRC scheme has just been published. Energy reporting has a valuable role to play in promoting energy savings. Data suggests there are potential savings of over £2 billion per year on business energy bills from introducing cost effective measures in buildings and business processes. However, government is keen to keep the new reporting obligations as simple as possible, building on some of the current energy reporting requirements such as the mandatory reporting which UK quoted companies must carry out.

The government is seeking views on a number of issues including:

• geographical scope – should the reporting obligations apply across the whole of the UK?

• how should disclosure be made -should disclosure be made through the Annual Report which companies are required to file at Companies House?

• who is caught be these obligations -in addition to UK quoted companies should the reporting obligations be extended to, for example, “large” unquoted companies applying the Companies Act tests to assess “large”, or should we use the ESOS scheme definition of “large”? Alternatively should the obligations be based around energy consumption for example using the current CRC criteria, or possibly some new criteria?

• what should be reported – direct emissions, indirect emissions, global emissions, a more restricted definition of emissions and/or intensity metrics. Perhaps more contentious should reporting include identified energy efficiency savings and /or action taken as a result of these identified savings?

• complementary policies - should reporting extend to complementary policies?

• electronic reporting and guidance – should reporting be electronic and what guidance might industry need?

Action Points

Review the consultation and discuss with your EHS/energy team. We know that the CRC Scheme proved overly complex. Now is your chance to input into the design of these new reporting requirements to ensure that they are workable and not overly burdensome for your business.

The consultation remains open until 4 January 2019.