CRC deadline passes with industry “confused and unaware”

SAP says that manufacturers are "even more confused, unaware or unwilling to engage with the scheme than one year ago", citing its research, which shows that 20% of potentially eligible organisations have still not registered – and 78% of these are unsure if they qualify. Interestingly, the software giant finds that nearly 10% of respondents would rather face the Environment Agency-imposed fines than commit to the CRC scheme and that 11% incorrectly believe that they do not qualify. It also reveals a "clear lack of understanding of the scheme's potential to help businesses save energy, reduce costs and increase efficiency", according to Martin McCann, head of sustainability at SAP UK and Ireland. He suggests that 77% of firms are still using spreadsheets to collect and handle relevant data, while a further 72% have no confirmed plans on how to use the data they so collect. Meanwhile, IFS comments that many businesses "need to rapidly improve their environmental monitoring", citing its own research, which reveals that two thirds (67%) of UK companies lack the necessary software to readily monitor and report on their environmental impact. IFS' study, which involved 368 IT decision-makers from UK businesses, also found that one in ten (11%) of respondents still don't know if their businesses are required to comply with green legislation. It also revealed that 6259% of respondents will only invest in monitoring tools if required to by law, or if it helps to sell their products or services. Says SAP's McCann: "The research findings show that a high number of organisations, registered and unregistered, are now more confused than ever before about their strategy, and are still not confident with the systems they are using to manage and collate the data. And he adds: "Accurately collating energy and fuel data need not be a huge spreadsheet manipulation task, with heavy auditing processes and wide margins for error. If organisations want to perform well, they need a simple and comprehensive management system to easily gather and analyse their carbon data."