The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has today announced that from April 2013 all businesses listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange will have to openly report their levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The requirements will not cover private companies or those listed on the Alternative Investment Market.
Speaking at the Rio+ 20 Summit earlier today Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg confirmed that the UK is set to become the first country to make it compulsory for companies to include emissions data for their entire organisation in their annual reports.
The introduction of the reports, which follows extensive consultations with leading businesses, will enable investors to see which companies are effectively managing the hidden long-term costs of greenhouse gas emissions.
Currently more than 30 billion tonnes of CO2 are emitted globally each year. The UK has committed to cutting its carbon emissions to 50 percent of 1990 levels by 2025. DEFRA claims that reporting emissions is the first vital step for companies to make reductions, estimating that these measures will save four million tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2021.
