PwC sets out carbon reporting template

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PricewaterhouseCoopers has created a new reporting model designed to bring standardisation to carbon reporting, using a hypothetical IT business to explain how UK-listed companies can apply it in practice.

To demonstrate the model, PwC has published a 28-page sample report on the carbon reporting and finances of a hypothetical company ­ UK-listed IT products manufacturer Typico. It shows businesses how such a report would be structured and what information it would typically include. The report explains, for example, how Typico aims to realise projected cost savings through its efforts to reduce emissions.

To give an international perspective, Typico has operations in the UK, US and Asia and the sample carbon report covers non-UK operations and requisite carbon reporting requirements alongside UK requirements.

The auditor says its reporting model is the first to demonstrate the practical relationship between emissions reporting and financial and non-financial data to work out the value and impact of carbon emissions on a business.

“Typico sets out a flexible template to help companies develop and define good reporting practices for their business,” says Paul Rew, PwC partner for sustainability and climate change assurance. Currently, there is no standard practice in carbon reporting.

The Typico report also shows how businesses can tackle:
• Inclusion of the background of the company and purpose of the report;
• The company’s climate change strategy;
• Impact of climate change on the business;
• Applicable environmental governance and regulation on the company;
• Finance performance overview in relation to climate change;
• Directors’ responsibility and approval of the company environmental policies;
• A primary statement of greenhouse gas emissions for the company; and
• Assurance statement.

Ahead of a widely expected move to mandatory carbon reporting for UK business, PricewaterhouseCoopers is working with the Department for Rural and Environmental Affairs (Defra) and the Confederation of British Industry’s carbon reporting group to establish compliance guidelines for large internationally operating companies. Defra has said it hopes to produce guidelines by the end of 2009.