As of July 1, 2008 Australian businesses emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases will be required to monitor and measure the emissions ahead of reporting them to the government by October 2009. From July 1, corporate groups that emit 125 kilotonnes or more of greenhouse gases each year, or produce or consume 500 terajoules or more of energy, will be required to collect data to meet annual reporting requirements. Corporations controlling facilities that emit more than 25 kilotonnes of greenhouse gases, or use or produce 100 terajoules or more of energy, will also need to collect data. The ministry provides these comparisons – 25 kilotonnes of greenhouse gas emissions is equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 6,200 cars, while 100 terajoules equates to the annual energy use of around 1,900 households.
The Department of Climate Change has developed an online calculator to help businesses work out whether or not the system applies to them. The department will continue to run information sessions and provide guidance on using the online reporting system, along with a reporting hotline. Amendments to the bill establishing the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System were proposed in Parliament. The amendments would allow publication of information by the government relating to the methodologies used by corporations to calculate their emissions and clarify the scope of the minister’s power to specify methods for calculating emissions, among other minor adjustments to the Act.
Australia’s largest companies have been planning for the start of mandatory greenhouse gas reporting since last year when the Howard government was still in power. Katie Lahey, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, wrote last October in “The Age” newspaper, “…businesses cannot afford to sit back and wait for trading to formally start before planning to tackle the implications for their strategies and operations of what is a fundamental long-term transition from a high-emissions to a low-emissions world economy.”
– from Environment News Service