As the global atmospheric concentration of CO2 nudges 400 parts per million, I reflect on some of the changes in understanding and policy since I started working in this area, in 1995.

At that time our grasp of the global carbon cycle was quite uncertain. We knew CO2 in the atmosphere was at 360 ppm (about 2750 billion tonnes CO2). We had a good idea that we were adding about 22 billion tonnes CO2 per year from fossil fuels and maybe 6 or 7 billion tonnes from deforestation.

By subtracting increases of carbon in the atmosphere from the emissions it  

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There’s an awful lot of misinformation out there about UK mandatory carbon reporting; namely when it comes into force, which companies are affected and what action they need to take. It’s vital that everyone is clear about when the regulations take effect at the very least, as getting this date wrong could be disastrous for some companies – particularly those who have a September year-end. Since we Ecometricans are in the habit of bringing clarity to matters of environmental uncertainty or ambiguity, I thought I would take it upon myself to do just that.

The draft final guidance that accompanies  

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Defra have circulated the final guidance that will accompany the Regulations for Mandatory Carbon Reporting. In the draft guidance, the proposed reporting start date was set at 1st October 2013 – however, in the final guidance document this date has been brought forward by one day, to 30th September 2013.

While this may not appear to be a major change, moving the date forward to 30th September will have a significant impact on companies whose reporting year runs from 1st October to 30th September. Under the new date, these companies will have to report a full year earlier than they  

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PwC review sees Ecometrica secure audit-ready GHG data assurance

Ecometrica has become the first and only environmental accounting provider to secure assurance of audit readiness, following a review by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The move comes as Britain’s largest companies face mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from October 2013 and growing concerns over the integrity and quality of such outputs.

The company commissioned PwC to carry out an independent review of output from its ‘Our Impacts’ solution, in line with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ Code of Ethics.  

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Recent research from independent analyst firm Verdantix lists Ecometrica as one of the top sustainability brands in the world, ranking alongside the likes of Microsoft, SAP, Oracle and IBM.

Ecometrica is also listed in the world’s top twelve most recognisable specialist software suppliers, with a brand awareness score of around 41%. Commentary within the research asserts that “these are impressive results given that the 250 members in the survey panel are located in 13 countries.”

Purchasers of environmental accounting software are more savvy, intelligent and discerning with their choice of platform than ever before. While spreadsheets and in-house databases are  

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Now that Canada has officially withdrawn from the Kyoto Protocol, does the private sector still have a strong incentive to manage and reduce their emissions? In a word, yes.

Even if meeting nationwide emission reduction targets is no longer legally mandated, from the point of view of industry, the need for carbon accounting and reporting remains as strong as ever. Instead, the drive to manage emissions is strategic. Companies that evaluate their emissions stand to benefit financially, and are poised to take full advantage of regulatory opportunities as they arise.

Let’s first take a look at market forces operating on  

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We increasingly hear arguments advocating for extending Daylight Saving Time year-round in the United States, mostly on an environmental basis: if DST saves energy, why not make it permanent, and thereby reduce national GHG emissions?

To follow up on Sylvie Trottier’s paper on the topic, Ecometrica has now produced an infographic to cover the main arguments of whether or not there is a case for extending Daylight Saving Time.

Click on the infographic to see a larger version:

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Dr Richard Tipper has blogged for The Guardian about the effects of climatic trends on supply chains.

Richard discusses how a changing climate can affect the growth of crops, impacting on the sort of commodities we all take for granted such as tea, coffee or cocoa, and even going as far as to potentially make current production areas unsuitable for growth within the next 20-30 years. However, climate change is not the only factor in play, as Richard goes on to discuss socio-economic changes such as human migration and lack of financial investment into commodity production.

However, Richard also presents  

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At the end of 2012 Ecometrica awarded two scholarships to Emily Woollen and Alice Duff to develop research from their respective PhD and Masters theses into Our Ecosystem apps. The two resulting apps demonstrate the ease with which you can use very different geospatial data to create easily accessible apps for analysing, communicating and sharing geospatial data. The Ecometrica Scholarships are available to students from Edinburgh University and Imperial College London – two institutions with which Ecometrica has close research links.

Emily Woollen, the Gold Scholar, developed an app over a two month internship at Ecometrica from her PhD research  

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The long wait for UK mandatory carbon reporting is nearly over, though Ecometrica has learned it is most likely that the regulations will go before Parliament after the Easter recess (26 March to 15 April 2013), so not within the first quarter of 2013 as previously anticipated.

However, the regulations are still expected to come into force for reporting years ending on or after 1 October 2013, which means that for many companies they will already be in their first data collection period.

For this reason, it’s important that all affected companies start collecting their data and planning for mandatory  

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