UK finance professionals unaware of carbon reduction scheme

A quarter of senior finance professionals have not heard of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, formerly known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment.

The survey, carried out by document management software company Version One, questioned 139 finance directors and finance managers in the UK's public and private sector.

Nearly half (48%) of the finance professionals surveyed said they didn’t know whether their organisation qualified for the scheme or not, while only 17% said they had actively investigated whether their organisation qualified for the scheme.

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is a UK regulatory requirement which came into effect in April 2010 and encompasses the monitoring, measurement and reporting of carbon emissions as well as the buying and selling of carbon emission allowances. Qualification for the CRC is based on electricity consumption. Once in the scheme, however, companies need to measure and report on emissions from electricity, gas and static fuel consumption.

Julian Buck, managing director of Version One, said: "With the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme having considerable financial implications, it is worrying that nearly a quarter of financial professionals surveyed haven’t even heard of the CRC. Qualifying organisations that fail to register for the scheme over the next few weeks risk significant fines as well as reputational damage if they are exposed as being non-compliant."

Qualifying companies have until 30 September 2010 to register with the Environment Agency, although the agency will need to run pre-registration checks on businesses’ senior directors which could take some time. Any qualifying organisation that misses the deadline faces an initial £5,000 fine and a daily charge of £500 until registered. The maximum fine is £45,000.

Further reading:

Reverse VAT introduced on carbon trading

Businesses have 18 days to register for CRC: PwC