Global Survey Reveals Most Companies Naive When it Comes to Energy Management
More than half (58%) of companies surveyed have not heard of the term ‘carbon accounting’, less than a quarter could accurately describe what the term means, and a full 80% of companies surveyed don’t monitor their company’s carbon footprint, according to research by Epicor Software, a business software solutions company for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organisations. The global carbon accounting survey shows that despite forthcoming legislation mandating carbon accounting, most companies are still lagging in their comprehension of carbon accounting as a whole, and in the execution of said carbon accounting initiatives.
With Australia introducing the new tax legislation on carbon emissions, and new regulations soon being introduced in California, the momentum behind requiring corporate energy management is well under way.
“It’s quite worrying to think that a third of all companies don’t know whether they are under legal obligation to report emissions and we want to take this opportunity to urge the industry as a whole to take responsibility and help educate businesses about energy management,” said Chris Purcell, product marketing manager for Epicor. “Businesses should prepare now for carbon accounting.”
The survey compiled responses from nearly 1,000 companies worldwide. The majority (48%) of respondents were from organisations in the manufacturing industry. Most (42%) respondents were from organisations with 100 to 1,000 employees and organisations with US$50m in annual revenue, or less (43%).
The survey also revealed that although the chief executive officer (CEO) is the most likely person to be responsible for a company’s green strategy, 50% of companies surveyed don’t have any C-level involvement at all in their carbon accounting initiatives. Eighty-five percent cannot report the level of carbon their company has consumed in each of the last six months, and nearly 70% believe that they accurately account for less than 25% of their company’s carbon consumption.