Environmental Reporting Guidelines

1 Environmental Reporting Guidelines : Including mandatory greenhouse gas emissions Reporting guidance June 2013 Crown copyright 2013 You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or e-mail: Any enquiries regarding this document should be sent to: PB 13944 Contents Introduction .. 1 Who is this document for?

2 1 Benefits of Reporting .. 1 Legal framework for Reporting .. 2 Principles for accounting & Reporting Environmental impacts .. 3 Chapter 1: Steps in Reporting your Environmental impacts .. 5 Step 1: Determine the boundaries of your organisation. Do you need to report on all parts of your organisation? .. 6 Step 2: Determine the period you should collect data .. 7 Step 3: What are the key Environmental impacts for your organisation .. 7 Step 4: Measuring .. 8 Step 5: Reporting .. 10 Action i: Intensity ratios/normalisation factors.

3 12 Action ii: Setting a base year .. 13 Action iii: Setting a target .. 15 Action iv: Assurance and verification .. 15 Action v: Your upstream supply chain .. 17 Action vi: Your downstream impacts .. 18 Action vii: Business continuity & Environmental risks .. 18 Recommendations .. 19 Climate Ready .. 20 Chapter 2: Guidance on mandatory Reporting requirements for quoted companies .. 22 Is my company required to report? .. 22 When will my company have to start Reporting ? .. 22 What period should I collect data for? .. 23 What must my company report?

4 24 Must I report all my emissions? .. 25 Comply or explain .. 28 Must I use a particular methodology for my calculations? .. 29 Must I show emissions over time? .. 30 Intensity ratios .. 31 Should I get my emissions data verified? .. 32 Example corporate GHG report .. 33 Who will enforce mandatory Reporting requirements? .. 34 Chapter 3 Voluntary greenhouse gas Reporting .. 35 Chapter 4: Water .. 44 Why this matters to business .. 44 What to measure and what to report .. 44 Metrics/ Normalisation factors .. 46 What to measure and what to report in your supply chain.

5 46 Chapter 5: Waste .. 48 Why this matters to business .. 48 What to measure and what to report .. 48 Metrics/ Normalisation factors .. 50 Chapter 6: Resource Efficiency and Materials .. 51 Why this matters to business .. 51 What to measure and what to report .. 53 Normalisation factors .. 55 Chapter 7: Emissions to Air, Land and Water .. 57 Why this matters to business .. 57 What to measure and report .. 58 Chapter 8: Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services .. 62 Why should this matter to business .. 62 What to measure and report.

6 64 Annexes .. 68 Annex A: Organisational boundary .. 68 Annex B: Process Emissions .. 73 Annex C: GHG Emissions from Use of Refrigeration, Air Conditioning Equipment and Heat Pumps .. 75 Annex D: Heat, Steam and CHP .. 83 Annex E: Supply chain emissions .. 85 Annex F: Intensity ratios .. 94 Annex G: Emission reduction actions .. 95 Annex H: Example Reporting format .. 99 Annex I: Water .. 107 Annex J: Waste .. 112 Annex K: Resource efficiency and materials .. 116 Annex L: Emissions to air, land and water .. 120 Annex M: Biodiversity and ecosystem services.

7 128 1 Introduction Who is this document for? This document is designed to help: companies in complying with the greenhouse gas (GHG) Reporting regulation, a requirement from the Climate Change Act 2008; and all organisations with voluntary Reporting on a range of Environmental matters, including voluntary GHG Reporting and through the use of key performance indicators (KPIs). Benefits of Reporting There are direct benefits to your organisation in the measuring and Reporting of Environmental performance as it will benefit from lower energy and resource costs,1 gain a better understanding of exposure to the risks of climate change and demonstrate leadership, which will help strengthen your green credentials in the marketplace.

8 You should find it helpful to use Environmental KPIs to capture the link between Environmental and financial performance. Investors, shareholders and other stakeholders are increasingly requesting better Environmental disclosures in annual reports and accounts. The number of organisations that are seeking information from their suppliers on Environmental performance is increasing too. Organisations of all sizes are increasingly expected to measure and report on their Environmental performance or risk losing out to competitors who do record their Environmental performance.

9 A Defra sponsored study2 provided robust evidence that Environmental management systems generally delivered cost savings and new business sales for the majority of the study s small and medium sized enterprises. 1 2011 report for Defra by Oakdene Hollins. The study estimated that the UK savings opportunities associated with no cost / low cost from resource efficiency activities were estimated at a total of around 23billion in 2009. Resource Efficiency Study 2 An evidence based study (EV0440) into the benefit of EMSs for SMEs.

10 2 Many businesses are finding that their Environmental risks are material to their operations and supply chains, or are likely to become so. This may take the form of physical risks from climate change, or business risk from volatile energy and commodity prices. Equally some are finding that early action to address such risks can generate new business opportunities. This guidance has links with the work of the Natural Capital Committee (NCC). Natural capital refers to the elements of nature that produce value (directly and indirectly) to people, such as the stock of forests, rivers, land, minerals and oceans.