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Green economy, green business Sustainable business and resource efficiency Measuring and reporting environmental impacts Resource Security Action Plan: making the most of valuable materials

Measuring and reporting environmental impacts

Key Performance Indicators Guidance and GHG Reporting Draft Regulations consultations
At Rio+20, British companies and Government helped secure international support to encourage businesses to include sustainability information in their annual reporting and so views are now sought on environmental reporting guidance published today.

Read the KPI guidance consultation

The Environmental Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) guidance is intended to help businesses that want to demonstrate their corporate sustainability credentials do it in a clear and concise way. The draft guidance is intended to replace the previous guidance on environmental KPIs published in 2006. It aims to show business how to measure and report on their performance across a range of environmental indicators such as water, waste, materials, and pollutants as well as biodiversity and ecosystem services. This guidance is also intended to meet the commitment in the Natural Environment White Paper to produce environmental guidance for business. Also following the announcement at Rio+20 on the introduction of regulation to require quoted companies to report their emissions, a draft regulation has been published for comment. This provides more information on what companies will need to disclose in their reports in future.

Read the consultation on the draft regulation

Updated January 2013 The consultation on the draft greenhouse gas regulations closed on 17 October. Around a hundred responses were received and, following analysis of those responses and engagement with those respondents, the draft regulation is being amended and is currently being finalised. Guidance for quoted companies, to help them comply with the requirements of the regulation, is currently being drafted. This guidance reflects the points made in the consultation and in subsequent discussions with a range of stakeholders who attended workshops in December and January. The regulation will be laid and the guidance published in the next few months.

Top businesses to report greenhouse gas emissions

Businesses listed on the London Stock Exchange will have to report their levels of greenhouse gas emissions from the start of the next financial year under plans announced by the Deputy Prime Minister at the Rio+ 20 Summit. This follows last years consultation. We will consult on draft regulations to implement this.

Consultation on GHG emissions (including summary of responses and final impact assessment Written Ministerial Statement (PDF 48 KB) (Parlimentary website) Leading businesses to disclose greenhouse gas emissions (press notice)

We agree with the majority of respondents that UK companies should report their greenhouse gas emissions in the directors report of their annual report. The Government is committed to reducing the regulatory burden on companies and so has decided to opt for a regulation for all quoted companies, which has the lowest regulatory cost of the regulatory options. Experience of this introduction will be used to update the cost and benefit information contained in the final impact assessment. In 2016, the Government will take a decision, based on this updated information, whether to extend the requirement to all large companies.

Id like to report my organisations emissions, where do I start?

Defra, in partnership with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), provides guidance for businesses and organisations on how to measure and report their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:

Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions Small Business User Guide: Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions

The guidance explains how organisations can measure and report their GHG emissions as well as set targets to reduce them. The guidance is aimed at all sizes of business as well as public and third sector organisations. There is supplementary guidance available to help organisations report on the greenhouse gas emissions and sequestration from woodland creation in the UK. This guidance must be read in conjunction with the Woodland Carbon Code and Guidance on how to measure and report your greenhouse gas emissions

Guidance on reporting greenhouse gas removals and emissions from domestic woodland creation (PDF)

Greenhouse gas conversion factors

Existing data sources such as utility bills, fuel consumption and car mileage can be converted into CO2equivalent emissions by applying relevant conversion factors. We publish annual greenhouse gas conversion factors to help you do this. These factors should be used with the guidance to help you calculate your emissions.

2012 Greenhouse gas conversion factors for company reporting 2012 Guidelines to Defra/DECCs GHG conversion factors for company reporting: Methodology paper for emission factors Older conversion factors are available from the National Archives

How do I report my transport emissions?

The Government also provides specific guidance for freight transport operators and for companies wishing to report emissions from their work-related travel. The freight-specific guide for operators is designed to supplement the general guidance by providing more specific information and examples relating directly to freight transport operations. The document is aimed primarily at freight transport operators. However, it will be of

interest to any business that wishes to understand where transport fits into wider greenhouse gas emissions reporting, and as such is written to be accessible to a wider audience.

The Guidance on measuring and reporting Greenhouse Gas emissions from freight transport operations (PDF 3.7 MB Please note this is a large file. You may find it easier to save this file to your computer before opening it) Quick reference guide for transport operators (PDF 1 MB) Toolkit for freight transport operators to calculate their Scope 3 emissions (Excel 1.3 MB)

The Department for Transports work-related travel guidance has been developed in partnership with Defra to help UK organisations measure and manage the greenhouse gas emissions from commuter journeys (staff travelling to and from work) and business travel (staff travelling during the course of the working day). Work-related travel can be a significant source of emissions for many organisations, however it can also be a challenge to report upon it.

Department for Transports work-related travel guidance

This guidance provides a clear set of instructions on how to calculate work-related travel emissions and source data. A pilot carbon calculation tool has been developed alongside the guidance to assist organisations in calculating emissions from work-related travel.

Benefits of reporting
There are benefits to both companies and investors from company reporting of GHG emissions. Measuring emissions is an important first step to managing them, giving companies an understanding of their where their main emissions are. Emissions reporting can act as an import communications tool within companies, helping to gain senior management and Board support for emissions management. Companies also report benefits in terms of reputation and brand value. In November 2010, as part of its obligations under the Climate Change Act (2008), Defra published a report considering the impact of company reporting of GHG emissions:

The contribution that reporting of greenhouse gas emissions makes to the UK meeting its climate change objectives: a review of the current evidence (PDF 660 KB)

This report includes some specially commissioned research on the contribution that reporting makes to emission reductions and the associated costs and benefits. This report will help inform the governments decision on whether to make regulations requiring business to report their GHG emissions. An announcement on how the government intends to proceed will be made in spring 2011.

Review of the contribution of reporting to GHG emissions reductions and associated costs and benefits

What about reporting on other environmental impacts?

Environmental Reporting Guidelines Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (PDF 347 KB). These guidelines to help companies to identify and address their most significant environmental impacts. The guidelines outline how companies might begin to set targets/KPIs to measure environmental performance against. Companies can make use of standard business data already collected, for example, from Environmental Management Systems and utilities bills. The environmental guidelines provide guidance on how data could be reported. Companies that currently report on their environmental performance can be found listed on the CorporateRegister.com.

Report to Parliament on company reporting of greenhouse gas emissions

A report was laid in Parliament on 27 March 2012 concerning company reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report meets the requirement in section 85 of the Climate Change Act 2008 explaining why regulations on the mandatory reporting of GHG emissions have not been introduced by 6 April 2012.

Company reporting of greenhouse gas emissions

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