Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR)

SECR was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2019 and applies to financial years beginning on or after April 1, 2019. Reporting is mandatory for listed companies regardless of size, as well as large unlisted companies and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) that exceed at least two of the three relevant UK company law thresholds for employee numbers, turnover, or balance sheet total. Smaller companies and companies with very low energy consumption below defined de minimis thresholds are exempt from the reporting requirement.

Disclosure takes place in the Directors' Report of the annual accounts, or in an equivalent energy and emissions report for partnerships. Companies must report global energy consumption, associated greenhouse gas emissions (particularly from electricity, gas, and fuel use), at least one emissions intensity metric to put the figures in context, a year-on-year comparison, and a description of energy efficiency measures implemented during the reporting year along with the calculation methodology used.

SECR complements other UK instruments such as the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) and should be understood as a standalone, nationally designed framework that, following the UK's withdrawal from the EU, exists alongside European reporting requirements such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), without being fully aligned with it.

For companies with operations or subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, SECR is a standalone reporting requirement that must be met independently of any EU rules. International groups with UK sites therefore often face the task of collecting and preparing data in parallel under several, sometimes differently structured, reporting frameworks.