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Mandatory Carbon Reporting, 2020 Budget & COVID-19 Sustainability Challenges
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 Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) - First Reports due April 2020
2020 sees the start of businesses reporting their carbon emissions as part of the new Streamlined Energy & Carbon Reporting (SECR) legislation. It will affect all large entities for reporting years starting on/after 1st April 2019.
You will have to comply if your organisation satisfies two or more of the following criteria:
- Turnover: £36 million or more
- Balance sheet TOTAL: £18 million or more
- Number of employees: 250 or more
If your business is an SME it may also be prudent to complete an SECR compliant report to be able to compete effectively in tenders and to satisfy any reporting needs of your supply chain partners.
More on SECR - And Watch Our Video
Still need help with ESOS Phase 2?
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 COVID-19 & Business Continuity
It might seem churlish to go on about COVID-19, however, as sustainability consultants, it is only right to point out that business continuity can only be helped during these times by use of low carbon technology.
Within some businesses there is cultural acceptance of travel to external meetings and travel as the 'norm' or even a 'perk' of the job. The climate emergency has been challenging this for a while, but now COVID-19 has pushed this to the max.
Permitting home working (where possible) enabled by readily available IT software is the way to keep your business moving forward. Without favouring any particular solution:
- Use videocom solutions - Skype, MS Teams, Zoom, FaceTime, etc to keep in touch and for meetings. Conference call software is also available (e.g. GoToMeeting, MS Teams, etc).
- Use file sharing solutions - Office365, Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud, etc
- VOIP phone systems - they allow you to use the office phone number on a range of devices, from wherever you are working.
You will be cutting carbon, but the main issue here is the sustainability of your business and the health (and stress levels) of your teams.
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Carbon Offsetting - Net Zero Workshop - Get the Slide Pack
The recent Sustainable Business Network workshop was a great success! It focused on how carbon offsetting works and how to choose a good carbon offsetting project for your business.
If you missed this ground-breaking session, you can download the entire Slide Pack here:
Get the Slide Pack
The pack also includes an update on Legislation & Market trends and a case study from Ecophon.
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UK Government 'Budget 2020'
This week the UK government announced plans to extend the consumer incentives for ultra-low emission vehicles in the form of an extended plug-in car grant (PICG). However, the grant has been reduced by £500 to £3,000 and is now only applicable to vehicles costing less than £50,000.
The government also announced that the Benefit in Kind rates which were announced in 2019 will go ahead as planned. This means that the 0% Benefit in Kind rate for fully electric vehicles will go ahead for the 2020/21 tax year, making it cheaper to run an electric vehicle.
Read more about electric vehicles here!
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