Carbon Reporting in Directors’ Reports

Carbon reporting is likely to become a standard feature of company annual Directors’ Reports, either on a voluntary or mandatory basis. In the UK, the Climate Change Act (2008) tasks the government with introducing mandatory greenhouse reporting in Directors’ Reports. This paper sets out how greenhouse gas emissions can be included in company annual reporting, and how the financial liabilities associated with greenhouse gas emissions can be shown in a company’s balance sheet.

Ecometrica has used this reporting approach in its own 2010 Directors’ Report, and has found this to be a simple undertaking which does not significantly add to the administrative burden of providing annual accounts. This paper is accompanied by a freely available template which can be used by other companies that wish to include their greenhouse gas emissions in their annual Directors’ Reports.