FRC provides guidance for corporate reporting under energy and carbon rules
The regulator said companies need to explain their calculation method, what the reported numbers include, and the level of third-party assurance.The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) set out Wednesday how companies should improve their reporting under the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) rules, which came into effect from 1 April 2019.
The rules expanded the existing emissions disclosure requirements for quoted companies and required emissions reporting for the first time for large unquoted companies and limited liability partnerships, the FRC explained.
The FRC, in its Thematic Review: Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting, identified examples of emerging good practice and outlined its expectations for reporting in the future.
The regulator said the sample of reports reviewed “largely complied with the minimum statutory disclosure requirements for emissions and energy consumption” but that more needed to be done to make the disclosures understandable and relevant for users.
In particular, the FRC highlighted that “entities need to explain more clearly how information is calculated, which operations and emissions are included in their reported numbers, and the level of third-party assurance obtained over the information”.
It added: “They also need to consider how to integrate these disclosures with other narrative reporting on climate change, especially any emission-reduction targets.”
— Oliver Rowe (Oliver.Rowe@aicpa-cima.com) is an FM magazine senior editor.