The Government has confirmed that will launch a consultation next month on whether or not to introduce mandatory carbon reporting for UK businesses.
The
Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the consultation would look at options "from voluntary through to mandatory reporting" and would begin at the end of May and last eight weeks. Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the Government has to introduce
mandatory carbon reporting for listed companies by April 2012 or explain to Parliament why it is not doing so.
Defra published a report on the issue last November, however, with no sign of any decision since then, speculation is mounting that it plans to scale back
regulations.
The Financial Times yesterday reported that ministers were set to "water down" the rules in an effort to cut down on red tape. It said the Government was considering whether to limit the system to large companies only. It is one of the pledges of the Coalition to cut the regulatory burden on business.
No rush to decision
Yesterday, Defra said it would not be rushed into a decision on the matter, despite calls from some business quarters to adopt mandatory reporting. Groups, such as Aldersgate Group and the CBI, have voiced support for mandatory reporting.
"There is extensive ongoing work on carbon reporting, but we are not rushing into a decision on whether to make reporting mandatory. The final decision needs to work for both Government and the business community," a Defra spokesperson said. "We intend to start a consultation by the end of May on options from voluntary through to mandatory reporting to give businesses the opportunity to tell us their views."
Defra said it has been speaking to "a wide range of interested groups" on the issue, including the Department of Energy and Climate Change, Business, Innovation and Skills, investors, NGOs and business organisations, such as the Aldersgate Group.
SMEs
The Federation of Small Business, which has not been actively lobbying Government on mandatory reporting up to now, said it could work for
small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but warned a "one size fits all" system would be "completely inappropriate" for small firms.
"Small businesses are acutely sensitive to regulation and a system of carbon reporting would need to be found for SMEs that uses existing records, such as utility bills, to calculate a firm’s carbon emissions to keep the administrative burden to a minimum," said Francis Wood, environmental and climate policy advisor at the FSB.
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