Achilles Experiences: Anglian Water reduces carbon footprint in its supply chain with Carbon Reduce (formally CEMARS)
Anglian Water is the largest water and water recycling company
Article by Achilles
The legislation is going to be new for large unquoted companies and large limited liability partnerships (LLPs). The criteria is in a year, if two or more of the following requirements are met:
Large companies quoted on the stock exchange (PLCs) already have to comply with reporting their greenhouse gas emissions.
Companies that are currently reporting to CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme or Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) will typically now have to comply with this new legislation.
If your company uses less than 40MWh during a reporting period you are exempt. This amount of energy is effectively “domestic” level, so it’s unlikely to apply in most cases.
The reporting applies to UK energy use only, so if you have sites outside the UK, these are exempt. Equally if your company is not registered in the UK you will be exempt.
If you meet the criteria for SECR but are a subsidiary of a larger group of companies, you are excluded from reporting individually if your figures are consolidated in the parent company.
If the information is accepted as of strategic importance, then it may not have to be published externally.
Companies will need to publish their UK greenhouse gas emission for energy use. As a minimum it will include purchased electricity, gas and transport. For these you need to report on:
Speak with our team to fully understand what this means for your organisation.
You must publish this information in your first annual report after 1st April 2019, so for most companies from early 2020 onward.
However, this implies you need to have a way to capture and measure data in place this year to be sure that the relevant information will be readily available next year.
It is a legal requirement to comply with this legislation. Civil penalties apply and action can be taken against Directors or members of an LLP.
You will need to include the greenhouse gas emissions and associated energy information in your Directors report. There are no mandatory formats you must use, but it would be advisable to choose a format that you will use each year and will help to monitor progress.
Only if you fall below the criteria for SECR:
No you still have to comply with ESOS for 2019.
You will have to measure activities involving the combustion of gas, or consumption of fuel for the purposes of transport; and the purchase of electricity by the company for its own use, including for the purposes of transport. This will need to be reported in CO2 and kWh.
Transport typically will include all vehicle fleet both car and commercial. It also includes business mileage in private cars.
The legislation mandates companies to report on their greenhouse gas emission and energy but it is hoped that this will encourage companies to then set targets and reduce these, so helping the country meet its overall target. Under the Climate Change Act 2008 the aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 (against a 1990 baseline).
Highly unlikely, it is UK legislation in nature, not European.
CRC ends this year and SECR will replace it.