Provisional figures from the Environment Agency reveal that the vast majority of organisations taking part in the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency (CRC) scheme have met the first reporting deadline.
In total, only 254 of the 4,549 reports expected were not submitted by 29 July. Initial estimates reveal that participants have disclosed information on more than 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, more than 10% of the UK’s total annual CO2 output.
Each participating organisation had to collate and submit two papers by the deadline: a footprint report summarising all the energy it was supplied in the previous year and an annual report detailing emissions that fall under the CRC.
Tony Grayling, head of climate change and communities at the Environment Agency, confirmed that the prompt submission by so many participants meant that first annual performance league table should be ready to be published as planned in the autumn.
“This is a new scheme for the UK, so we are pleased that the vast majority of organisations required to submit a report have done so by the deadline,” he said.
Ahead of the 29 July date there had been concerns over how many participants would be able to compile their reports in time, with 11% of organisations admitting in April they weren’t sure they would be ready.
Donald Maclean, managing director of Business Cost Consultants said: “Given the increasing burden of compliance and administration that organisations are expected to cope with, we are surprised that so many CRC participants have fulfilled their obligations on time for the phase one deadline. However, it still leaves hundreds of organisations facing steep financial penalties.”
Those organisations that have yet to submit their reports face potential fines of £500 for each day the report is late on top of an initial £5,000 per report for missing the deadline.
Following the government’s decision to scrap the recycling of payments made under the CRC, and with the possibility of greenhouse-gas reporting being mandated for businesses in the future, there has been increasing support for scrapping the complex reporting element of the CRC.
