Series of briefings to examine CRC's loopholes

Looking to understand more about the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), which will affect some 5,000 companies and other organisations across the UK starting next April?

Dan Ilett, chairman of CleanAnalysis — Greenbang’s new analyst group — will discuss how the CRC works (and talk about some of its weaknesses) during a series of one-hour breakfast briefings next month.

The meetings are scheduled for 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. on 4, 11, 18 and 25 August, with the location yet to be announced. The cost is £20 + vat (£23.50) and attendance is limited to 10 people per session, so be sure to reserve your seat well ahead of time. To book a space, call Florence Durand-Baudrit on 0207 462 8953 or email her at florence@cleananalysis.com.

CleanAnalysis has identified several areas in which the CRC regulation is weak, and the briefings are aimed at helping industry professionals understand how such loopholes — concerning, for example, the outsourcing of operations to non-UK locations — could be useful to their organisations. The extent to which organisations can benefit from such weaknesses is a complicated issue because of factors such as energy security, increasing oil prices, cost savings that might not be achieved, and the potential for weakness-exploiting behaviour to be exposed, leading to loss of goodwill.

Attendees will have the opportuity to raise various points for discussion, with the intention of sharing useful information and insights for their mutual benefit. Discussions will take place under the Chatham House Rule (meaning participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.)

The CRC will apply to companies that have had at least one half hourly electricity meter settled on the half hourly market across the whole organisation, and to businesses or agencies with a total half hourly electricity consumption of at least 6,000 megawatt-hours. The CleanAnalysis briefing is intended to benefit any private or public-sector organisation that will be affected by the CRC.

Among the topics to be addressed during the briefings:

• What will your CRC tax look like?
• What are the legislation’s current gaps and loopholes?
• What solutions can CFOs think of?
• What does the future look like (in terms of trading, stock-exchange, off-shoring, etc)?
• How does “green” affect your branding?
• Does anyone care about “green” in the current economic environment?
• How do you prove to your customers that you are “green”?
• Is it possible to be “green”?
• Is innovation connected to sustainability?
• Can “green”/sustainability help sell products?