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.
