Voluntary Reporting a First Step to a Regulatory Regime

Through early voluntary action on reporting and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, some of Canada's large final emitters find themselves well-positioned to compete in Alberta's new compliance system which includes an offset credit scheme and in an evolving federal regulatory climate change regime.

Suncor Energy, for example, has since the early 1990s blazed a trail in its voluntary reporting of GHGs through the Voluntary Challenge and Reduction Program, which evolved in the late 1990s into a non-profit government-industry organization known as the VCR. The VCR challenged large final emitters to measure and report on annual emissions. It was the impetus for many companies, including Suncor, to find ways to reduce emissions and invest in clean energy projects.

"We're much more prepared for where we are today because of our commitment to the VCR," says Suncor's Dianne Zimmerman. "We spent a lot of time and effort to meet the highest standard of reporting."

According to the University of Calgary's Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy voluntary action, including the VCR, "was a beginning - a first stage," in addressing climate change in the context of large industrial emitters. "It served as an educative purpose and was essentially exploratory," the institute states in a report.

As a result of the voluntary reporting program, which has wound down under the federally legislative framework, Suncor was able to establish a baseline for its GHG emissions and measure its total inventory. In turn, that provided the company with a benchmark, and opportunity to find efficiencies leading to measurable emissions reductions which at the same time resulted in cost-savings for the company.

"The VCR began as a voluntary approach and what we've found is that we're now using that as an instrument to not only align with our own understanding of what we're doing on climate change but also to meet the needs of so many other organizations that have emerged," says Zimmerman.

Using voluntary measures as an instrument to change the behaviour of large industrial emitters has had its benefits, but there is recognition among some major industry players that a regulatory regime is necessary if Canada is going to make significant gains in emissions reductions.

As the magnitude of the problem has become clear, so has the need for mandatory reporting and reductions.

"Absolutely it's better if you can take voluntary action but voluntary action is not necessarily sustainable," says Doug MacLeod, vice-president of corporate environment at Edmonton-based power company EPCOR.

He points out that corporations can "back away" from voluntary initiatives without a legislative backstop.

Adds Zimmerman: "Being regulated is quite important because then it does put us all on the same playing field and from there we can figure out the next step."