Global Survey Reveals Most Companies Naive When it Comes to Energy Management

Epicor Software Corporation, a global leader in business software solutions for manufacturing, distribution, retail and services organizations, announced the results of its first ever global carbon accounting survey, which offers insight into the fact that despite forthcoming legislation mandating carbon accounting, most companies are still lagging in their comprehension of carbon accounting as a whole, and in the execution of said carbon accounting initiatives.

With Australia introducing the new tax legislation on carbon emissions, and new regulations soon being introduced in California, the momentum behind requiring corporate energy management is well under way. The survey, which was conducted by Epicor during August and September 2011, was designed to investigate the ability and willingness of companies to identify their greenhouse gas emissions; to find out how they technically capture emissions; and to clarify the extent to which companies have to meet not only legal requirements for sustainability, but also what demands they meet from partners and customers.

The survey compiled responses from nearly 1,000 companies worldwide. The majority (48%) of respondents were from organizations in the manufacturing industry. Most (42%) respondents were from organizations with 100 to 1,000 employees and organizations with $50 million in annual revenue, or less (43%). The survey revealed that 58% of companies surveyed had not heard of the term “carbon accounting”, that less than a quarter could accurately describe what the term means, and that a full 80% of companies surveyed don’t monitor their company’s carbon footprint.

“It’s quite worrying to think that a third of all companies don’t know whether they are under legal obligation to report emissions and we want to take this opportunity to urge the industry as a whole to take responsibility and help educate businesses about energy management,” said Chris Purcell, product marketing manager for Epicor. “Businesses should prepare now for carbon accounting.”

He explained, “Carbon reporting will happen irrespective of any personal opinions about global warming; those businesses that prepare now for the reporting that will be legally required of them in the near future will have a clear competitive advantage over laggards. Energy management is not a distraction to a company’s core business. Businesses can gain cost and energy savings from sustainability investments and the growth of emission trading schemes will only increase the need for companies to understand how carbon accounting will impact their bottom line.

The survey also revealed that although the CEO is the most likely person to be responsible for a company’s green strategy, 50% of companies surveyed don’t have any C-level involvement at all in their carbon accounting initiatives. 85% cannot report the level of carbon their company has consumed in each of the last six months, and nearly 70% believe that they accurately account for less than 25% of their company’s carbon consumption.

Read more about the survey at: http://www.epicor.com/MRCPR/Epicor-Announces-Carbon-Accounting-Survey-Results-NR-012512.pdf