Tool Box
Issue No. 45 - Feb/March 2009
Carbon opportunity is in the detail
by Craig Stubing
Over recent years the Australian Federal Government has made a significant commitment to promoting environmental awareness and reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions. While current legislation applies to the GHG emissions of large-scale business, guidance for SMEs who are committed to the environmental cause and keen to stay ahead of legislation remains unclear.
On 30 October 2008, Australia’s Low Pollution Future report concluded early action to tackle climate change would sustain growth, create new jobs and protect the Australian economy into the future. However, there remains very little information for SMEs regarding what this process actually involves and how acting early will benefit their business.
Embedding an environmental policy into key business practices will help SMEs to minimise their risk and exposure to the growing carbon economy and, despite common perceptions, becoming ‘Carbon Measured’ is a relatively simple process.
The first step is to work out what the carbon footprint of the business is over a certain period - usually a financial year.
This involves providing the following details to your GHG assessor:
• Purchased electricity usage, and the associated suppliers.
• Details of all fuel used within the business operations.
• Details of all business flights taken.
• The number of employees working within the business and their hours of work.
• Other areas, where relevant to the business, include advertising, printing and waste management.
All of this information can be sourced from invoices and other records the business ordinarily maintains for income tax and other purposes throughout the year. The business should, from that point on, begin recording these details in their financial system so they can be extracted for future GHG assessments, minimising the time involved with the process.
Once the detailed report has been issued stating the measured carbo...
