Carbon Reduction Commitment

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (the CRC, formerly the Carbon Reduction Commitment) is a mandatory carbon emissions reduction scheme in the United Kingdom that applies to large non-energy-intensive organisations in the public and private sectors. It has been estimated that the scheme will reduce carbon emissions by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020. In an effort to avoid dangerous climate change, the British Government first committed to cutting UK carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 (compared to 1990 levels), and in October 2008 increased this commitment to 80%. The scheme has also been credited with driving up demand for energy-efficient goods and services.

The CRC was announced in the 2007 Energy White Paper, published on 23 May 2007. A consultation in 2006 showed strong support for it to be mandatory, rather than voluntary. The Commitment was introduced under enabling powers in Part 3 of the Climate Change Act 2008. A consultation into the scheme's implementation was launched in June 2007. The Scheme is being introduced under the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme Order 2010.

The first performance league table was published on 8 November 2011. It was based on the scheme's early action metric, which is a measure of good energy management prior to the establishment of an energy baseline. In the future the table will use a growth and an absolute metrics from this baseline. The table is expected to be particularly useful to ethical and green investors. Many notable brands are listed in the League table including the big four supermarkets, Asda (37), Morrisons (56), Tesco (93), and Sainsburys (164). In all 22 organisations shared first position, news stories focused on the fact that Manchester United Football Club was one of those at the top of the table. It has been announced that after July 2013, these league and performance tables will no longer be published, and will instead be replaced by a publication of participants' energy use and emissions.

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