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Emissions report scheme opens for business

Angus Taylor says gas, mining, property, retail firms indicated they will opt into the CERT report.

Angus Taylor says gas, mining, property, retail firms indicated they will opt into the CERT report. Photo: AAP

Australia’s voluntary emissions reporting scheme has begun after being workshopped with companies.

Grocery giant Coles and oil and gas major Woodside are among 11 large Australian businesses opting into the new Corporate Emissions Reduction Transparency (CERT) report launched on Tuesday.

Federal Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said companies in natural gas, mining, property, finance and retail have indicated they will opt into the CERT report.

He called for more Australian companies to join the scheme to show they are accountable for the promises they make.

“It will provide a one-stop-shop for the public to access net emissions, renewable electricity and offset data for Australia’s largest companies and understand their plans to decarbonise,” he said.

Despite Australia being challenged over its emissions reduction targets at the recent COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Mr Tayler said Australia was a world leader in public reporting of emissions data and consistently “meets and beats” its targets.

Countries, including Australia, must follow international guidelines when reporting emissions and submit greenhouse gas inventory data annually to the United Nations.

“Australia reports emissions data for every sector and every gas, every quarter,” Mr Taylor said.

Mandatory National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) reporting under the UN requirements will continue for Australian companies.

The voluntary CERT report adds another layer of data on emissions reduction targets, renewable energy targets, carbon offsetting efforts and renewable energy procurement that can be accessed by the public.

Business groups say the new scheme will support Australia’s carbon market.

Other organisations remain concerned that indirect emissions, often the most significant source of pollution for most sectors, are not included.

The so-called Scope 3 emissions, sometimes called value chain emissions, come from goods and services that are produced and traded across and between economies.

Globally, financial regulators — including in Australia — are moving towards more scrutiny of indirect emissions and how to count them.

Companies that opt-in to the new scheme will report their net emissions in a standardised way.

They are also accountable to their shareholders, regulators and financiers for their climate policies.

Progress made under the new scheme will be verified against data held by Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator.

– AAP

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