By David Williams
1 October 2010
Almost 2,800 public and private sector organisations have registered
for the government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment emissions trading scheme, and a
further 400 are going through the process, it was announced today.
Separate figures for the public sector are expected on
Monday. However, John Maddocks, CIPFA’s policy manager for sustainability, told
Public Finance that early indications
showed a strong take-up by local authorities. He said more than 90% of those
expected to join had signed up a few days before last night’s deadline.
‘It’s pretty good going,’ he said. ‘It might well be better
than the private sector has done – but many public sector organisations are
already used to managing their energy usage.’
Maddocks said the CRC was forcing many councils to get to
grips with their energy usage for the first time, assessing their full property
portfolios and finding easy efficiencies.
But, he added, ‘registration is relatively easy – there are
concerns around the trading side, the buying and selling of carbon allowances’,
as few public bodies will have prior expertise in emissions trading.
Andy Johnston, head of the centre for local sustainability
at the Local Government Information Unit, said some public bodies ‘probably
will have missed the boat’.
But, he noted that the Environment Agency, which runs the
scheme, had already pledged to work with those who have failed to register on
time, rather than name and shame straight away.
The CRC is intended to reduce emissions among the UK’s
biggest polluters that are not already covered by the larger European Union
Emissions Trading Scheme.
The registration criteria are complex, but qualifying
organisations will be those currently spending around £500,000 a year on
electricity.
Participation is mandatory for all departments of the UK,
Welsh and Scottish governments. Hundreds of other public bodies including
councils are expected to qualify.
The final number of registrants – 2,779 plus the 400 still
being processed – is significantly less than the 5,000–6,000 expected when the
CRC was launched.
Public Finance
understands that many ‘parent’ organisations have registered in place of their
constituent bodies, which could have been large enough to qualify on their own.
Around 8,000 organisations – not including all CRC
registrants – have contacted the EA to declare that their energy usage is below
the CRC threshold.
