The UK is to become the first country to make it compulsory for companies to include emissions data for their entire organisation in their annual reports. The United Kingdom’s Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg made the announcement today (21 June 2012) at the Rio+ 20 Summit that all businesses listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange will have to report their levels of greenhouse gas emissions from the start of the next financial year.
The introduction of the reports, following consultations with leading businesses, will enable investors to see which companies are effectively managing the hidden long-term costs of greenhouse gas emissions. The majority of businesses responding to the consultation support the change and Government plans are also backed by leading employer and environmental organisations including the CBI and the Aldersgate Group.
The new Regulations will be introduced from April 2013. They will be reviewed in 2015, before ministers decide whether to extend the approach to all large companies from 2016.
To inform the process for developing a GHG reporting system, the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA) has published a Special Report on GHG Management and Reporting at http://bit.ly/LDRAK4