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On track for carbon reporting
Annette Gevaert, director of rail and transport at Achilles, explains the impact of mandatory carbon reporting on the rail industry.
M
any in the rail industry may be aware that the Government is likely to introduce mandatory carbon reporting for organisations listed on the London Stock Exchange, but few outside those directly affected will fully understand the impact this move will have on the wider rail industry.
As part of the UK Climate Change Act 2008, companies listed on the London Stock Exchange will be required to report their greenhouse gas emissions alongside fi nancial fi gures in their annual report. This piece of legislation went out for consultation last summer and a fi nal decision is now imminent. Indications from the Government point to mandatory reporting being required from April 2013, which will not give affected organisations long to prepare. What’s more, companies will not only be required to report on their carbon emissions, but will also fi nd it necessary to include fi gures for all six Kyoto recognised greenhouse gasses. The legislation will clearly galvanize those companies that are directly affected, but the implications for the rail industry go far wider.
If large companies listed on the London Stock Exchange have to report on their carbon and greenhouse gases, then it is highly likely that they will be looking to their suppliers to track their emissions too. Increasingly suppliers are expected to make that information available as part of the detail required for compliance under the tendering process. In the near future, the awarding of contracts is likely to be weighted towards suppliers with a lower carbon footprint.
There are companies in the rail sector already moving in this direction. Network Rail recently announced that it is to award 5% of all tender points on a supplier’s ability to meet its sustainability criteria.
As of 1 December the rail operator will give fi ve percentage points towards the overall score to the most sustainable tender, with the remaining tenders awarded between zero and four percentage points depending on how well they meet the criteria.
The rail operator is making sustainability
count, commercially. But there are many other buyers, especially in the related construction sector, already applying such techniques to their procurement processes and attributing between 10 and 15% of tender scores to sustainability targets.
For suppliers, ‘the writing is on the wall’. To compete and win business, suppliers are going to have take carbon reporting and sustainability seriously.
Many suppliers are actively engaged in creating or acting on a sustainability strategy.
A growing proportion of companies are aware of the signifi cance of sustainability in winning new business and are integrating the processes for managing sustainability into those used to manage the supply chain. Compliance on sustainability is being considered alongside Heath and Safety, quality and the other key areas of potential supply chain risk.
A collaborative approach to pooling this information and making it available to buyers across the rail community is widely seen as the best way of achieving visibility.
Considering the rail industry accounts for two per cent of total UK greenhouse gas emissions it has a collective responsibility to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The rail industry is well placed, as a provider of transport services to the public, to present itself as a leader in adopting green initiatives and in driving carbon reporting down through the supply chain.
However, providing visibility on compliance will take a collaborative effort.
The rail industry must get behind Link-up and use its collaborative structure to bring carbon reporting data to buyers within the community.
Annette Gevaert
www.achilles.com FOR MORE INFORMATION
18 | rail technology magazine Feb/Mar 13
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