18 Aug 2010 12:08:31

Majority of UK businesses 'not measuring carbon footprint'

The majority of UK companies do not measure their carbon footprint yet, the Carbon Trust has claimed.

Britain's largest business and public organisations now have less than 50 days to sign up to the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, which is intended to help the country meet its carbon reduction target.

However, a survey conducted by the trust revealed that just 26 per cent of firms make the effort to measure their emissions, Bloomberg reports.

Some 38 per cent of the 200 finance directors who took part in the poll said that they planned to begin monitoring their carbon footprint in the next five years.

Harry Morrison, general manager of the Carbon Trust, said that finance departments are playing a greater role in monitoring emissions. Earlier this year, Mr Morrison said that the key to implementing a successful CRC strategy lies within the internal audit and data collection processes.

"In many companies, the finance team in their internal audit function are best placed to have a robust view of carbon and environmental data than the energy and climate teams may have done in the past," the news provider quoted him as saying.