PwC review sees Ecometrica secure audit-ready GHG data assurance

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 ‘Ecometrica Sustainability’ solution, in line with the International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales’ Code of Ethics. Audit-ready outputs will provide certainty to companies affected by these regulations that the results can withstand external stakeholder scrutiny, without the need for subsequent time-consuming and costly revisions.

Dr Richard Tipper, chief executive of Ecometrica, said: “Credible third party assurance means clients will spend less time auditing information, in the knowledge that accurate GHG data is being reported. This has been a long-standing principle with financial information, which means companies require emissions data that is fit for purpose.

“As environmental accounting becomes an everyday requirement for UK businesses, the significance of accurate information becomes evermore important. We are in a position to guarantee that outputs from ‘Ecometrica Sustainability’ will stand up to external audit, as long as the input data provided by the client is accurate. Our decision to seek third party verification demonstrates Ecometrica’s commitment to working with our clients to secure such insight, in the most timely and cost effective manner.”

The GHG Regulations (Directors’ Reports) 2013 requires companies to assess and measure environmental impacts from a range of different sources, including energy, waste and water management. Outputs from a GHG accounting system are required to be fit for purpose and may be subject to independent audit, which means organisations are increasingly looking to avoid further calculations, clarification, data manipulation or other pre-audit intervention.

Fraser Wilson, director of risk assurance with PwC, said: “Executives must have confidence and trust in emissions data. The provision of audit ready data will require environmental accounting processes that provide better, faster and more effective outputs.”

Ecometrica, which has offices in Edinburgh, London and Montreal, has brought together a number of innovative technologies, including one of the industry’s most comprehensive databases of emission and conversion factors. The team of experts develops algorithms that automatically select the most appropriate emission and conversion factors, according to the input data, and the ability to calculate GHG emissions in real time.

Ecometrica was recently quoted by Verdantix, an independent analyst firm, as a global brand leader for sustainability.