UK Carbon League Table Published

LONDON, November 8, 2011 -

Today the government published the largest ever public disclosure of UK companies’ carbon emissions. The Performance League Table ranks the carbon performance of over 2000 organisations that fall under the government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme legislation.

The Performance League table shows that 22 organisations came equal first by scoring 100% in the Early Action Metrics. This group included British American Tobacco, Invesco and Manchester United FC.

803 organisations scored zero points in the Early Action Metrics, with Zurich Financial Services - by virtue of alphabetical order - coming at the bottom of the league table.  This group of zero scorers included big brand names such as Xerox, Virgin Atlantic, Goldman Sachs, Kraft Foods, ING, Diageo, Astra Zenica and BMW. Government departments that also scored zero include the Home Office and HMRC.

The league table does not to disclose those organisations that failed compliance with the legislation altogether, and now face hefty fines starting from £45,000.

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme was introduced in 2010 to provide an incentive to medium and large-energy users to reduce their carbon emissions. From 1st April 2012, participants will need to buy one carbon allowance for each tonne of carbon reported under the scheme, priced at £12 per allowance. The scheme faced severe criticism from industry when the coalition changed the rules so that the allowance payments would go to the treasury instead of being recycled back to the best performing participants.

James Ramsay, Head of CRC, commented, “This is the first time that UK companies have been forced to disclose publicly their carbon data, and the results are really quite extraordinary. The fact that over 40% - including many big brand names - failed to score a single point is a clear indicator that they are not even monitoring their energy data. It shows that there is huge room for improvement.”

The metrics used to assess the league table positions this year were based on two separate elements, the first being certification under the Carbon Trust Standard or another approved equivalent scheme. The second element is the percentage of an organisation’s electricity and gas supplies that was measured via voluntarily installed automatic meter reading meters and dynamic unmetered supply in the 2010/11 reporting year. 

In addition, the answers to four Corporate Responsibility questions have been published which provide more information about each participant’s carbon management activities.

The second league table, to be published a year from now, will incorporate more information on actual carbon emission reductions by incorporating Absolute and Growth Metrics. The Absolute Metric is based on each participant’s percentage carbon emissions change, and the Growth Metric gives recognition and provides context for organisations that are growing or declining by accounting for the percentage change in emissions per unit turnover (or revenue expenditure for the public sector).

“For many of our clients, the CRC is driving change and increasing awareness of the risks and opportunities associated with energy and carbon performance.  It will be interesting to see the extent to which the naming and shaming of so many companies by the league table forces more organisations to take serious action to improve their carbon performance,” James Ramsay added.

About Carbon Clear

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Contact: Clare King, +44(0)845-838-7564

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