Corporate reputations on the line ahead of CRC league tables launch

Businesses are bracing themselves for the publication of government league tables later today that will rank them on their efforts to cut emissions and improve energy efficiency.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) tables cover the energy used by around 4,500 companies and public sector bodies between April 2010 and March 2011. They are scheduled to be published on the Environment Agency website at 8am this morning.

When the scheme was first announced, the league tables were intended as a mechanism for recycling the revenues raised through the initiative, but this element was removed from the CRC late last year, prompting businesses to accuse the government of introducing a stealth carbon tax.

Businesses and green campaigners alike argued that removing the revenue recycling element of the scheme, which would have provided bonuses to the companies in the top-half of the league table paid for by those in the bottom-half, undermined the financial incentives that had been meant to encourage firms to improve energy efficiency.

However, the government has maintained the view that charging firms based on their energy use through the CRC will provide a financial driver for energy efficiency improvements, while league tables will provide a reputational incentive for companies to try and perform well.

David Symons, director at environmental consultancy WSP Environment & Energy, told BusinessGreen that the CRC's high profile would mean attention for the best and worst performers. But he also acknowledged that the removal of the recycling element had left "the corporates less interested" in the scheme.

"It's interesting, because no one really seems to have noticed the publication," he said. "When it was still a [rewarded] league table, it had boardroom-level attention. Now it's little more than an operational issue.

"I think we'll see firms at the top of the list or their sector making something of it and those lower down saying it has nothing to do with rewarding progress."

Symons says the tables are skewed because they do not yet reward companies that improve their energy efficiency performance the most, although this will change for future tables as a track record of energy performance is built up.

Businesses' rankings are weighted 50:50 between the percentage of a company's portfolio that is covered by the Carbon Trust Standard or equivalent certification, and the percentage fitted with voluntary automatic meter readers.

Concerns also remain that the tables will not be enough to drive down carbon emissions without the introduction of mandatory emissions reporting alongside the CRC. The government has delayed a decision on the issue, despite significant support from business, the CBI, and green campaigners.

Andrew Raingold, executive director of the Aldersgate Group, which has been leading calls for mandatory reporting, told BusinessGreen he expected an announcement by the end of the month.

"Carbon reporting is essential to provide transparency and a level playing field to allow greenhouse gas reductions across the economy," he said. "There's still a question whether... companies view the league tables as an accurate reflection of their performance.

"Perhaps they could do the job, but it's better if investors and the media are making their own comparisons rather than the CRC table, with its own rules and regulations, which a lot of participants see as not very credible."