Manufacturing’s drive towards net zero is at risk of being undermined due to a lack of common carbon emissions reporting standards across the industry, according to a report which urges the development of a universal approach.
The High Value Manufacturing Catapult highlights that although the industry produces two-fifths of the UK’s carbon footprint, current reporting is inconsistent and uses varying terminology and formats.
“Tracking carbon emissions is now an integral part of a company’s annual audit,” said the Catapult’s chief executive Katherine Bennett. “Yet a myriad of different carbon accounting standards and methodologies are used, meaning that the data is rendered almost useless when combined across the manufacturing sector.”
“This risks completely undermining the UK’s drive to net zero.”
The report emphasises a need for companies to better understand their upstream supply chain emissions and warns of a lack of detailed guidance on reporting indirect ‘Scope 3’ emissions, which include carbon emitted in the early materials extraction and processing stages of the manufacturing value chain, and can account for up to 90% of a firm’s footprint.
The Catapult recommends that a ‘robust’ reporting and monitoring system should be implemented, which, it is proposed, would be overseen by an economy-wide carbon regulator.