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You are here : Home > Legislation > Industry reaction to London Stock Exchange greenhouse gas emissions disclosure
Date today:   19 May, 2013 07:59:47 AM
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Industry reaction to London Stock Exchange greenhouse gas emissions disclosure
By editor | 22 Jun, 2012
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Voices across industry have reacted to the announcement from the Department for Energy and Climate Change’s (DECC) that business listed on the London Stock Exchange (Main Market) will have to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions in their annual reports from April 2013.

Liz Peace, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: “The BPF is supportive of emissions reporting, and its introduction for listed companies is a welcome step. The introduction of emissions reporting raises questions about separate plans for an emissions league table under the CRCEES (Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme)." 

“The aim of the emissions league table was raise energy efficiency considerations to board level, and there’s a strong argument to be made that this will be more effectively achieved via today’s announcement.”

The Climate Change Capital Property Fund added to the essentially positive reaction from the property industry. Tim Mockett, joint managing director of the Climate Change Capital Property Fund said: “The news that the Coalition is to introduce mandatory carbon reporting for the UK's biggest companies is yet another signal that the government is really serious about reducing carbon and that companies can ill afford to operate in inefficient buildings and offices. Commercial property accounts for 20 per cent of emissions.”

Sustainability certifier Planet Positive runs a campaign sponsored by M&S, Tesco, Deloitte and ProLogis to encourage SMEs to be more environmentally friendly. It said that the hidden carbon emissions of companies’ supply chains "masks the true carbon cost of UK business.”

It did acknowledge that mandatory reporting rules would promote sustainability in business however, adding that business itself had driven the move: “It will promote transparency, accountability and consistency and provide a simple metric against which performance can be judged by investors, consumers and other stakeholders.

“The drive towards mandatory reporting has not arisen as a result of pressure from green lobby groups.  Instead it has been driven by business itself, including the CBI, which has been calling for this approach for a significant period of time.”
The British Council of Shopping Centres has stated it is ‘firmly behind’ the decision. It said: “GHG (greenhouse gas) reporting can raise the issue of managing energy use at board level and raise public awareness.”
 
But it called for an end to the CRC stating: “Now that mandatory GHG reporting is coming into effect from next year, government must recognise the redundancy of the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, in particular the Performance League Table.”

Andrew Raingold, executive director for the Aldersgate Group, a coalition of environmental organisations, which contributed to the government’s consultation said: “This is an area where corporate executives have been demanding more regulation from government to provide greater clarity and transparency. Our detailed analysis demonstrates that this announcement will lead to huge cost savings for businesses as opportunities to reduce their energy use become more apparent.

“This statement should pave the way to extend the requirements to all large companies in due course.”

 



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