Sasol has carbon emissions system in place

30 November 2007 17:09  [Source: ICIS news]

JOHANNESBURG (ICIS news)--South Africa’s Sasol has systems in place to disclose its carbon emissions, it said on Friday in response to recent environmental reports.

The coal-to-liquids fuel producer said it was acting while disclosure was still voluntary, in the face of a much stricter regulatory framework.

Sasol was reacting to two assessments released last week of the environmental performances of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

It emerged with high ratings in both surveys, but along with miner BHP Billiton and resources group Anglo-American, it is among South Africa's biggest carbon emitters after national electricity utility Eskom.

"Sasol has been reporting externally on its environmental impacts for many years, and since 2002 has been reporting in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative," spokesman Johann van Rheede said.

"In our 2007 Sustainable Development report issued on 19 November, we define the emissions as 71 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, with by far the greater proportion being carbon dioxide itself," he said.

The first JSE report, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), investigated the Top 40 companies’ responses to climate change.

The second report was a JSE measurement of many of the same companies' broader social responsibility index (SRI) performances.

Van Rheede also said that Sasol’s report details the increasing attention being paid to emission reduction efforts. Sasol gave no estimate of spending in this area.

Marthinus van Schalkwyk , South Africa’s environmental affairs and tourism minister, warned that a much stricter regulatory framework was coming.

"Under the Kyoto Protocol, legally binding greenhouse gas emission caps, have, thus far, only been placed on industrialised and developed countries," he said.

"However, these legally binding caps only apply to developed countries over the period from 2008/12. All developing countries, including South Africa, have been exempt from taking on legally binding commitments for this first commitment period up to 2012."

By: Mark Allix
+44 20 8652 3214

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