Environmental legislation 'needs to be reviewed for businesses'

Environmental legislation that was intended to help businesses reduce the amount of carbon emissions they produce needs to be reviewed, it has been said.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned the government that its Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) needs to be looked at again.

This scheme was introduced as a mandatory initiative to cut CO2 emissions produced by large organisations, encouraging firms to implement energy-saving measures through a series of incentives.

However, the CBI has stated that the decision to remove the revenue-recycling element to the energy efficiency initiative has made it unsustainable for companies.

CBI director for business environment Rhian Kelly said: "We now have a carbon reduction scheme that doesn't encourage companies to reduce carbon emissions and actually adds to the cost of doing business."

It was added that the environmental analysis legislation does not provide a proper incentive for firms to reduce the carbon emission levels.

Ms Kelly stated that the uncertainty of the scheme undermines energy-saving plans for firms and will not help the UK to reach emissions targets.

Posted by Joseph Hutton