Companies failing on carbon reporting

(Accountancy Age) Few companies reviewed in a survey complied with carbon reporting guidelines set by the government, Deloitte has found.

Deloitte looked at 100 listed companies and found that only a handful came close to meeting the requirements for reporting carbon output.

So poor are companies at reporting their carbon production that Deloitte concluded that the aim of the guidance - providing a basis for comparison between businesses on carbon - was now difficult to achieve.

The firm's head of carbon reporting, Jenny Harrison, said: "The wide variety of both formal and informal carbon reporting practices identified does not facilitate comparison between companies or industry sectors, making it difficult to evaluate the relative performance of companies in monitoring and reducing their carbon footprint, a primary goal of the government in publishing the Defra guidance."

She added: "Many companies failed to make basic disclosures around the reporting methodology used, or accounting principles applied, highlighting a lack of transparency around measurement."

Deloitte reports that only nine percent of companies reported their carbon footprint in line with government guidelines. Only eight percent said that their reports had been checked by an auditor or any kind. Only one fifth reported performance against a specific target for carbon production.