Carbon Reporting

The obligations to report carbon emissions are expanding globally.

In Europe there are the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) whilst in the US there are proposals for their own reporting and disclosure legislation from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)

In the UK we have one piece of legislation that is dominant in carbon reporting, the SECR policy, this requires certain organsations to share energy use and carbon emissions information in their annual reports.  

Building upon existing reporting requirements, the SECR is widening the scope of energy and carbon reporting to a larger number of companies and encouraging businesses energy efficiency actions.  

Under the definition within SECR’s, companies and LLPs are considered “large” if they meet two or more of the following criteria:

  • a turnover of £36 million or more
  • a balance sheet of £18 million or more
  • 250 employees or more

The SECR includes one set of reporting requirements for quoted companies, and another for large unquoted companies and LLPs but Large unquoted companies and LLPs are exempt from SECR reporting if they can show that their energy use during the reporting period is less than 40 MWh.

External validation is not required, but strongly recommended.

Find out more

 

Training

 

Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

TCFD focuses on the financial risks posed by climate change, covering both transition and physical risks. Originally aimed at financial institutions, its scope is now industry-wide and applies to all publicly listed companies, banks or insurers with 500+ employees in the UK. Plus, UK-based AIM companies with 500+ employees, and LLPs/non-listed companies with 500+ employees and a turnover of £500m+. 

It’s important to note that from 2024, the TCFD reporting name is changing to the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), but the reporting requirements are expected to remain the same.

Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)

ESOS is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for organisations in the UK that meet the qualification criteria. The Environment Agency is the UK scheme administrator.

Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry out ESOS assessments every 4 years. These assessments are audits of the energy used by their buildings, industrial processes and transport.

The ESOS audit is designed to identify tailored and cost-effective measures to allow participating businesses to save energy and achieve carbon and cost savings. The audit costs are estimated to be significantly outweighed by the savings from implementing the recommendations.

ESOS applies to large UK undertakings and their corporate groups. It mainly affects businesses but can also apply to not-for-profit bodies and any other non-public sector undertakings that are large enough to meet the qualification criteria.

Your organisation qualifies for the third compliance period (ESOS phase 3) if, on 31 December 2022, it met the ESOS definition of a large undertaking.

Find out more here: Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS)

Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR)

Mobilising Green Investment: 2023 Green Finance Strategy (2023) set out the UK Government’s long-term strategy to ensure investors and consumers can access the information they need to inform capital allocation in line with their sustainability preferences or goals. Central to this strategy is our plan for economy wide Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR), as first set out in Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing (2021). Building on global best practice and leading standards, SDR is a framework to facilitate and streamline the flow of robust, decision useful information between corporates, consumers and investors and capital markets.

The UK government has been a strong supporter of the ISSB since its launch. In its mobilising green investment: 2023 green finance strategy, the UK government laid plans to establish a framework to assess the suitability of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 for endorsement in the UK.

If this process concludes with an affirmative endorsement decision, it would result in the creation of the first two UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (SRS), which would be based upon IFRS S1 and IFRS S2. The UK government aims to make endorsement decisions on the first two standards by Quarter 1 2025 and these standards will form part of a wider Sustainability Disclosure Reporting framework led by HM Treasury.

Once the assessment process is complete, and subject to an affirmative endorsement decision, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be able to use the UK’s standards to introduce requirements for UK-listed companies to report sustainability-related information to their investors, subject to a consultation process.

Subject to an affirmative endorsement decision, the government will also decide on disclosure requirements against the endorsed standards for UK companies that do not fall within the FCA’s regulatory perimeter. That decision will take into account a number of factors, including costs for reporting companies and benefits for investors that may wish to use this information. 

For more information of the work on UK SRS, see  Framework and Terms of Reference for the Development of UK Sustainability Reporting Standards.

To assist with the assessment and endorsement of IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, and any implementation of resulting UK SRS, the UK government has established 2 committees, an independent Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) and a Policy and Implementation Committee (PIC).

Sustainability_Disclosure_Requirements__SDR__Implementation_Update_2024

Framework for developing UK Sustainability Reporting Standards

 

 

 

Help

You may well find that to get started you need support putting together your initial reports. British Marine has reached out to find organisations that will be able to help you. 

Alex Genn Copywriting 

Alex Genn Copywriting specialise in ESG, sustainability and financial copywriting.

We were founded on a simple idea: give the client a close working relationship with a senior-level writer (15+ years of experience), who is a pleasure to work with. Our writers collaborate with you in true partnership, getting to know your objectives and style of working, to act as a true extension of your team. Over the years we’ve worked with clients big and small, including American Express, Invesco Perpetual, The Disney Company, The Virgin Group and many others. No matter the size, they all receive the same level of service and personal oversight. With 25 senior-level writers available, we’re able to make sure your writer is always on hand for you, so your work is finished on time and to your exact specifications. Alex is always happy to arrange a call to discuss your project, give you an idea of costs and timings or just act as a sounding board.  We’re here to help. You can see some of our work at jll-emea-uk-sustainability-report-2021-new.pdf and find out more about us at ESG Report Writing - Alex Genn Copywriting.

To get in touch email hello@alexgenncopywriting.co.uk or call 07986123626, please mention that you are a BM member. 

4dimpact

4dimpact (www.4dimpact.co.uk) is a sustainability / ESG (Environmental and Social Governance) strategy and comms agency, transforming net zero ambition into engaging actions and meaningful impact.  Our aim is to ensure your net zero strategy is valued by shareholders, employees, customers and the wider marine community. 

We offer 20+ years in Marketing, MSc creds in Sustainability and Behaviour Change and a true passion for all things Sustainability (it’s all we do).  Furthermore, our lean operating model ensures net zero isn’t just a nice to have but becomes an essential part of your operating model, with a clear RoI attached.

As a community enterprise, a minimum of 70% of our profits go to help ‘grass roots’ community-based climate groups who need our services but lack the funding. 

Our 4 service areas are Sustainability Strategy, Organisational Culture (including training), Sustainability Copywriting and ESG Reporting; everything you need to transform intent to impact.

Our latest project has been advising Nobian, one of the Europe’s leading salt and mineral production companies, who operate a part of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI).  See their latest Sustainability Report (2023) here, edited by 4dImpact.

Previous projects have included work for the Forestry Commission and Hitachi Zero Carbon (future of electric transport).

We offer a free 30-minute consultation, which can be booked here.  A further discount of 10% is also available for British Marine members.

Duncan Hayes