New UN treaty to force businesses to report on pollutants

A UN protocol that requires large UK businesses to report annually on the release and handling of 86 different pollutants comes into force today.

The Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers to the Aarhus Convention, was formally adopted in May 2003 by 20 EU countries including all the major economies and has now come into full effect.

It requires firms to report on what happens to pollutants they produce over a certain threshold, including greenhouse gases, dioxins, and heavy metals such as mercury. However, it does not require them to restrict emissions in any way.

If pollutants are transferred offsite the protocol requires firms to track what has happened to them and disclose which organisation will be receiving the waste. All the information is to be placed in an online public register.

Asha-Rose Migiro, the UN's deputy secretary-general, said the protocol will force firms worldwide to publicly disclose environmental risks. "The protocol counts 38 signatories and 21 ratifications in the UNECE region, but many other countries are applying its right-to-know principles and developing pollutant release and transfer registers," she said.

Other pollutants covered by the legislation include carbon dioxide, organic solvents, fluorides, lead, methane, nitrous oxide and ammonia.

A spokesman for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe told BusinessGreen.com that while the protocol would initially only affect larger businesses, it would still have considerable reach.

"All the usual suspects are there – the chemicals industry, manufacturers, cement firms and heavy carbon emitters as well as the shipwrecking industry, which has to deal with a number toxic chemicals on end-of-life boats," he said.

EU countries and businesses are not likely to be overly affected by the legislation. They are already covered by EU legislation that set up the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register in 2006 and requires firms to report on the substances covered by the Aarhus Convention.

Earlier this summer, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) set up the UK's pollutant register to comply with the Aarhus legislation and the same register will be used in compliance with the EU protocol.

At the time of writing Defra had not responded to a call for comment on the readiness of UK businesses for the new protocol.

The protocol is open to accession by any UN member state.