What’s Going On Here?
Currently, there’s no legislation forcing UK businesses to measure and disclose their environmental impact.
But an announcement by a government taskforce set up to review how businesses should report their environmental impact shows is changing this.
According to the roadmap released by the Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), large finance and listed companies will be the first wave of organisations mandated to report their environmental impact.
What does this mean for my business?
Over the next 3-5 years, all large commercial listed companies, government departments and financial service institutions will be mandated to measure and report impact.
And while there’s no concrete expectation for SMEs to follow suit, focusing on these sectors also implicates businesses that already operate within their (very large) respective value-chains.
The move is widely seen as a positive commitment to legislative action that will grow at a pace to match the urgency of the problem.
In other words, next up: SMEs.
*Figures sourced from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Standards
So, how can Spherics help?
With such a big change comes big opportunities for SMEs to take the initiative and show the business community how it’s done. And it looks like Spherics could be just the tool to help.
Spherics plugs into the SME accounting software—currently Xero or Quickbooks—and automatically synchronizes to produce a ‘spend-based’ carbon impact.
This data is then simply presented in a dashboard with content and visualisations to help you truly understand your SME’s environmental impact in the context of the latest science-based targets.
Unlike many other tools, this requires virtually zero additional reporting for the users—saving both time and money. In other words: no extra work for you.
Why SMEs?
The Department for Business, Energy & Industry Standards state that: 99.9% of UK businesses are SMEs, accounting for 51% of the UK’s economy and 64% of emissions. It’s only a matter of time before carbon accounting will be mandatory for all businesses.
Be Curious!
Spherics is available to businesses in the UK from as little as £9 per month. Check Spherics out here.
