You may have heard about SECR which is about to affect thousands of companies – but what does it really mean for your business, and what are the necessary steps you must take to ensure compliance?
Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) legislation was introduced in April 2019, replacing the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme. Under SECR, it is mandatory for qualifying companies to report their UK energy use and correlated greenhouse gas emissions, relating to gas, electricity, and transport within their annual report. In our previous blog about SECR, we explained who the legislation will affect and exemptions where companies can be excused from complying with the legislation. In this blog, we will explain what SECR really means for businesses and what necessary steps they must take to ensure compliance with the legislation. In order to comply with the legislation, qualifying organisations must declare their carbon emissions from the previous 12 months, against the Green House Gas Protocol and ISO 14064-1 methodology scopes 1 and 2. There’s a 3rd scope, however this is voluntary and does not need to be included within an organisations submission. You may be wondering what the scopes are, and what you need to report under each scope, below we will outline each scope, and what emissions you must report on.
Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) legislation was introduced in April 2019, replacing the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) scheme. Under SECR, it is mandatory for qualifying companies to report their UK energy use and correlated greenhouse gas emissions, relating to gas, electricity, and transport within their annual report. In our previous blog about SECR, we explained who the legislation will affect and exemptions where companies can be excused from complying with the legislation. In this blog, we will explain what SECR really means for businesses and what necessary steps they must take to ensure compliance with the legislation. In order to comply with the legislation, qualifying organisations must declare their carbon emissions from the previous 12 months, against the Green House Gas Protocol and ISO 14064-1 methodology scopes 1 and 2. There’s a 3rd scope, however this is voluntary and does not need to be included within an organisations submission. You may be wondering what the scopes are, and what you need to report under each scope, below we will outline each scope, and what emissions you must report on.
- Scope 1: Mandatory (Direct Emissions) – Activities owned or controlled by your organisation that release emissions into the atmosphere e.g. boilers, vehicles refrigerants such as F gases.
- Scope 2: Mandatory (Energy Indirect Emissions) – Emissions being released into the atmosphere associated with your purchased electricity, heat & steam, or cooling.
- Scope 3: Discretionary (Other Indirect Emissions) – Emissions that are a consequence of your business activities which occur from sources out of your controls e.g. business travel by means not owned/controlled by you, waste disposal.
