CRC still too complex and ineffective

The current Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) legislation does not go far enough and is too confusing for businesses.

That is the verdict from Smart Carbon Research (SCR) which says more than 40% of respondents to its survey on the legislation revealed many find it confusing, while 44% say it falls short of the effort required to make an impact.

The CRC requires companies that spend £500,000 annually on energy bills to forecast its future carbon emissions for each financial year and then pay for these up front. Companies are then entered into a league table which reveals their emissions levels and their progress. They can then receive a rebate on the CRC rate they pay, depending on where they are ranked and how much they have reduced their emissions.

Simple as it sounds, the CRC has been beset by changes to better suit the response of businesses. One change in particular requires companies affected by the CRC to pay for predicted emissions for both 2010 and 2011 in April 2010. This was changed to allow companies to pay for predicted emissions in April 2011 for the fiscal year 2011-12, therefore delaying payment of emissions for a year.

The SCR report finds that while the will for the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme to succeed was there, it needs to be sold to businesses with clear commercial and reputational advantages above and beyond the environmental gains. The legislation must evolve to demonstrate its value to the UK economy in addressing a complex issue and contributing to 2020 targets, the report suggests.
“There is still a lack of strong leadership and education around carbon,” said Dan Ilett, founder of Greenbang, which partnered SCR on the research.

Useful link
www.greenbang.com/research