UK government consult on reporting Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
On 19 October 2023, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero launched a Call for Evidence on: UK greenhouse gas emissions reporting: Scope 3 emissions, to get views on the costs, benefits, and practicalities of Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reporting in the UK, including links to the government’s Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) framework. The Call for Evidence closes on the 14th December 2023.
What is a Call for Evidence?
A Call for Evidence is an information-gathering exercise that seeks expertise from people, organisations and stakeholders with knowledge of a particular issue, compared to a consultation which typically contains well developed policy proposals from government, which they seek stakeholder approval or disagreement on.
What is scope 3 emissions reporting?
The Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol classifies a company’s emissions into 3 scopes:
- Scope 1 emissions are the direct emissions from owned or controlled sources
- Scope 2 emissions are the indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy
- Scope 3 emissions are all indirect emissions, not included in Scope 2, that occur in the value chain of the reporting company
Some of the largest organisations in the UK are currently required to disclose their Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in their annual reports in line with the SECR framework, but Scope 3 emissions remain largely voluntary under the framework. Scope 3 GHG emissions can account for anywhere between 80-95% of the total value chain of an organisation’s footprint, thus UK government is seeking views on the costs, benefits and practicalities of Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reporting.
ISSB Standards:
The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) issued its inaugural standards for sustainability-related disclosures, including requirements for entities to report their Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 GHG emissions. The UK government strongly supports the development of international standards for the disclosure of sustainability-related information, and therefore announced in the Green Finance Strategy, that it is launching an endorsement process to assess the suitability of the ISSB standards.
In this Call for Evidence UK government is seeking views on:
- the costs, benefits and practicalities of Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions reporting to help inform the government’s decision on whether to endorse the ISSB standards in the UK
- the current SECR framework to inform a Post-Implementation Review of the policy
The Call for Evidence contains 38 questions on these topics and stakeholder responses will be used to inform a Post-Implementation Review of the existing SECR reporting requirements, inform the endorsement of the ISSB standards, and feed into an assessment on if and how the Environmental Reporting Guidelines are updated. The government’s response outlining the feedback received and their next steps can be expected 12 weeks after the Call for Evidence closes, which is at the beginning of March 2024.
Beyondly will be responding to this Call for Evidence to represent our stakeholders’ and our own views on these matters, for the 14th December 2023 deadline. If you would like to have your say, please get in touch with the team on sustainability@beyond.ly
