Environmental issues have been a growing concern for many years both for industry, and the general public becoming more and more aware of the precarious condition of the world environment with regards to global warming. Within this, industry across the globe has been tasked with ambitious and difficult targets to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions produced through the many industry practices. As part of this campaign and process of international gas reductions, carbon reporting has a huge role to play – here is some information on carbon reporting and why it is so important to the overall situation:

Carbon Reporting

Carbon reporting refers to the measurement, or process of the measurement, for the disclosure and management of the carbon emissions by companies and organisations. Companies across all industrial arenas have had to adapt their work processes, practices and products in order to adopt more environmentally aware and responsible practices in an attempt to contribute to the reduction of global warming and the fight against climate change. Within the Paris Agreement, the United Kingdom has set a target of reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – this entails a dramatic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across all industry sectors along with other sectors of the economy including transport and agriculture. One of the major tools to be used in this task of emissions reduction is Carbon Reporting – this plays an integral role in achieving the stated targets by providing a framework for all businesses to measure and manage the carbon emissions their company produces.

Three Stages

Carbon reporting will typically involve three separate processes – measurement, disclosure and management.

• Measurement – This involves calculating the overall amount of greenhouse gas emissions that an organisation produces in its daily processes. This encapsulates three different sources of emissions identified as Scopes one, two, and three and can be a complex process.
• Disclosure – Once these measurements have been identified, taken and recorded, this information must then be disclosed by way of an official carbon report which states the breakdown of the corporate carbon footprint detailing each of the different sources of emissions and highlighting the measures being implemented to reduce the individual sources. These corporate carbon reports are usually published annually and made public for any stakeholders or other relevant parties to examine and, if necessary, hold the organisation accountable for its environmental efforts and performance.
• Management – The third stage of carbon reporting deals with the management of the published carbon emissions. This involves which strategies and policies are being implemented to reduce these emissions and improve overall efficiency. These will typically involve investing in more energy efficient machinery, improving transport efficiency and perhaps investing in different renewable energy sources for everyday business – waste reduction will also be an important aspect of these strategies.

A company can both reduce their impact on the environment and, at the same time, reduce their corporate costs and overheads on aspects such as energy bills, with effective management of their carbon emissions. This management will also, importantly, demonstrate their commitment to sustainability to all stakeholders and customers. Many organisations strive for official industrial recognition in this area, and successful reduction and management of emissions helps towards the achievement and award of accredited carbon neutrality certifications such as BSI PAS 2060.

Carbon Reporting Importance

Apart from the obvious importance of contributing to an improved global environment, carbon reporting is important in the context of the national target of achieving net zero targets long-term. Carbon reporting is a process for a business to understand its carbon footprint and, in doing so, be able to identify ways in which carbon emissions and that footprint can be reduced. Many manufacturing, processing, and service industries – such as printing – are responsible for a significant portion of the UK’s overall emissions, so this reporting process is especially important to these sectors. Measuring and reporting these greenhouse gas emissions allows these industries to develop relevant, effective strategies to help reduce their impact on the environment.

Carbon reporting is important in that it promotes best practice and encourages innovation – sharing information on their successful strategies they are implementing to reduce their emissions, businesses can learn from each other and offer a greater collective effort in achieving the shared goal of reducing industries’ negative impact on the environment. This, in turn, can lead to help drive innovation in sectors such as renewable energy and energy efficiency.

As highlighted, carbon reporting is important for the demonstration of transparency and, therefore, accountability for organisations publicly to their stakeholders that they are meeting their stated environmental awareness and responsibilities and to prove their commitment to reducing their corporate carbon footprint. This is also supporting the national targets for greenhouse gas emissions and can help build a picture of the overall emissions profile for the country.