Many UK firms will soon have to include details of their carbon emissions in their annual reports, according to one expert.
Alan McGill, partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) sustainability and climate change reporting practice, believes that this year's Budget laid the ground work for mandatory carbon reporting and he urged firms to start work now.
However, firms which want to make the most of these changes will have to make sure they handle the data in the right way, he claimed.
Mr McGill said: "Rather than compliance and data reporting alone, forward looking analysis and statements of the risks and opportunities affecting a business will become an established part of the reporting cycle."
In order to help clarify issues surrounding the matter, PwC has drawn up a model report based on a fictional company.
Recently, it was revealed that PwC was placed 24th in 2009's Sunday Times Green Companies List, which is aimed at recognising outstanding environmental performance.
