The Environment Agency is setting up a dedicated unit of around 50 auditors and inspectors to enforce the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) when it comes into effect next year.
According to the Sunday Times, the boys in green will have warrant cards and search powers to access company property and view power meters and carbon-trading records. They will also be able to obtain copies of electricity and gas bills direct from utilities providers without the knowledge of the companies they refer to.
The Warrington-based central unit will be able to call on the Environment Agency’s existing network of pollution inspectors across the country, many of them soon to be trained in CO2 monitoring.
The CRC is a stick-and-carrot scheme being brought in to change the environmental approach of large and medium-sized companies in the UK. Businesses will pay into a central fund with their contributions dependent on their carbon emissions (calculated via their energy bills). The initial carbon allowance price has been set at £12 per tonne, but this is expected to rise from 2013, when the allowances will be sold through auction.
The fund is then distributed to the companies according to their energy efficiency, rewarding those who are doing most with larger payments, and leaving poor performers out of pocket. The Government has stated that the £5 million-a-year cost of running the scheme will also be met by the 6,000-or-so companies covered by the commitment.
Ed Mitchell, head of business performance and regulation at the Environment Agency, told the Sunday Times: “Climate change and CO2 are the world’s biggest issues right now. The Carbon Reduction Commutment is one of the ways in which Britain is responding.”
The new unit is expected to audit around 1,200 businesses a year, but will only carry out site inspections and further investigations where paperwork raises questions or suspicions. “The inspectors will carry warrant cards giving them powers of entry to collect evidence,” Mitchell explained. “We will also have access to company accounts with suppliers.”
In addition, all companies subject to the CRC will be ranked in an annual league table. The Government hopes that publishing the results will motivate businesses to invest in carbon-cutting measures rather than face public naming and shaming.
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