Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
Some companies are required to produce regular environmental reports through regulations such as the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting regulations.
Other organisations choose to produce reports on a voluntary basis that could follow a theme such as:
A one off, stand-alone environmental report could be useful and interesting, but if it is isolated from other activities it may not achieve a great deal.
Environmental reporting will work best when based on information from your environmental management system. This provides a mechanism for you to make improvements based on the figures produced in your report, and shows your involvement and commitment to collect the data.
Producing a regular environmental report will help you to:
To produce an environmental report you should:
If you have more than one site, division, department or business unit, you could produce one business-wide report or individual reports.
The advantage of individual reports is that they are more easily understood and relate more directly to individual managers and - in the case of site-based reports - to local communities. Individual reports can then be consolidated into business-wide figures for a broader audience.
Think about whether outside help could be useful, especially if environmental reporting is new to you. Consultants can help you to achieve a balanced approach, produce a report that will be easily understood and advise you on the sort of material that should go into it.
The use of independent third-party assurance statements, such as audit-based verification of your environmental data, adds credibility to your environmental reporting by giving stakeholders confidence that your approach is robust and reliable.
Printing can be expensive and has an impact on the environment. You could make the document available electronically, or hold it electronically and print it on demand for interested stakeholders.
The following companies and partnerships must report annually on their global energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and related information, in their annual Directors’ Report:
See guidance on how to meet these reporting requirements:
HM Government Environmental Reporting Guidelines: including Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting requirements
Global Reporting Initiative: The Reporting Hub
International Federation of Accountants: Environmental Management Accounting
Introduction - What is an EMS?
What are the benefits of an EMS and what is involved?
Types of Environmental Management Systems
How can NetRegs help you implement an EMS?
Implementing an EMS – getting started
Why produce environmental reports
EMS Case study - CMS Window Systems
EMS Case Study - Ross-Shire Engineering
Manage your purchases to minimise their environmental impacts
SEPA Special Waste Consignment Notes – updated position, The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is now accepting special waste consignment notes (SWCNs) by email only.
DAERA Waste Policy Tracker, The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has published a Waste policy tracker to stay informed of waste policy developments.
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