PwC launches green reporting model

Want to go green, but have no idea how to demonstrate to stakeholders that
its worth it?

Then you are in good company. The multitude of green accounting standards and
advice is confusing and not entirely aimed at creating universal practice.

But attitudes have changed and it is now a case of whether a company should
compile carbon reports, but how. Until now, there has been little or no help on
this front, but advice from the Climate Disclosure Standards Board, a body of
the World Economic Forum, has offered a framework outlining what companies
should be including in their carbon emissions report.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has gone a step further and created what is thought to
be an industry first, a reporting example based on a hypothetical IT company
called Typico that shows businesses the nuts and bolts of how to construct an
emissions disclosure.

The Typico report shows how a business can tackle a company’s climate change
strategy in the future; the impact of climate change on the business; financial
performance overview in relation to climate change; directors’ responsibilities
and approval of company environmental polices; and an assurance statement.

To give a global perspective, the fictitious company has operations in the
UK, US and Asia with the sample report covering UK and non-UK proposed reporting
requirements.

Typico is the brainchild of Alan McGill, partner at PwC’s sustainability and
climate change division. ‘There are lots of guidelines on what companies should
report, but nobody is coming out with how you would report the information’ says
McGill.

PwC is currently consulting with the CDSB, CBI and the UK department of
environment, on guidelines for companies, which are to be released later this
year.

‘This is not just a box-ticking compliance reporting model but is more
principles based,’ said McGill.

Companies need more than a list of requirements added McGill. ‘Typico
demonstrates how a company can link non-financial data through to the financial
implications’ he said.

The reporting battle doesn’t stop with carbon. McGill also has his sights set
on water usage. He hopes to adapt the Typico carbon model into a water report,
or at least to incorporate that into existing frameworks.

A recent ACCA report outlined that businesses need to prioritise water in
company CSR reporting as it underpins economic growth, security and can effect
financial and operational objectives.

‘It shouldn’t be one way for water and another for carbon. We need to convene
with standard setters globally to standardise the reporting’ McGill added.