We are moving into an era when reporting on a company’s environmental impact will become commonplace.  With growing recognition of business impacts on the environment, and the economic value of the natural environment (e.g. the TEEB initiative), statutory reporting is an attractive option for Governments as a low cost ‘nudge’ in the right direction and an essential enabler of future action – ‘you can’t manage what you can’t measure’.

In 2010, 77% of FTSE 350 companies already made some quantified report(1), sometimes through voluntary schemes such as the Carbon Disclosure Project.  But, only 34% reported to government standards.  And, for smaller quoted companies these figures fell to 49% and 19% respectively.  Clearly, there’s a long way to go.  Companies that fall behind risk higher costs to catch up with regulation, or falling behind competitors on an issue important to a growing number of customers and shareholders.