I read an article last week in the FT about the forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment legislation which is due to come into force next year. The article mirrored some of my own concerns that many businesses are unaware and therefore unprepared for this new legislation, and may therefore be opening themselves up to unnecessary risk and cost.The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is a proposed mandatory cap and trade scheme in the United Kingdom that will apply to large non energy-intensive organisations in the public and private sectors. The CRC scheme will apply to organisations that have a half-hourly metered electricity consumption greater than 6,000 MWh per year. Organisations qualifying for CRC would have all their energy use covered by the scheme, this includes emissions from direct energy use as well as electricity purchased. It is expected to affect hotel chains, supermarkets, banks, central government and large Local Authorities, basically, those who fall below the threshold for the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, but account for around 10% of the UK carbon emissions. It will certainly strengthen many companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) driver to reduce carbon emissions and improve transparency of company performance. I also agree that it will also put pressure on energy providers to assist with improved metering of energy consumption.My concern however, is that many organisations are not aware that this is coming and this lack of awareness leaves companies exposed to risk and costs that could be easily avoided. In my experience, most organisations lack the expertise to take advantage of the potential cost saving they can achieve by adhering to it. And in my view, smaller businesses should also be made to comply too.Expect panic from many organisations at the last minute just before this comes into force.
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Graeme Crossley
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Member since: 18 Aug 2008
Last login: 23 Nov 2009
Total Posts: 34
