A business may face more challenges and threats to its survival than it knows how to cope with. Recessionary pressures have caused an economic squeeze on operations like never before. Costs continue to rise, most notably tied to the all-important energy needs. While all this is going on, there are major calls for sustainability. It’s easy to lose focus when it comes to environmental issues and it is estimated that as many as four of five companies just do not understand or are not willing to take action when it comes to the need to be sustainable.

Carbon emissions will be fully restricted as we enter the new world. Each organization has to take responsibility for the energy it uses due to its very existence. This energy emits carbon and these emissions have been shown to cause significant environmental damage. Enterprise carbon and energy management systems have been designed to help companies deal with this problem, enabling them to measure the size of a carbon footprint, the emission inventories and reductions necessary.

Energy is a prerequisite to doing business, yet it emits carbon which has been proven to damage our climate. This is undoubtedly a major threat to an organization’s existence and must be viewed with the urgency associated. As politicians deal with the issue, fines and regulations may be expected, yet the public at large may pose a bigger threat to those who take no action.

If a company is not in possession of all the data, facts and figures associated with its operation, it may not be able to assess the size of its carbon footprint and act. To start off with, each individual asset must be scrutinized and its contribution to the problem determined. Enterprise carbon and energy management systems have been designed specifically for this purpose. When all the information is correlated together, management will be well placed to make educated decisions.

It is no longer acceptable to compose a corporate sustainability report that owes more to good public relations than hard facts. Watchdogs, the consumer groups, legislators and the media will begin to pick apart such reports and they must be accurate and based on realistic data.

In the United Kingdom, Parliament has enacted benchmark legislation that will force the largest emitters of carbon to purchase allowances from the government. A “cap and trade” trading platform will be established, the net result of which is that an organization that is not in control of its processes will flounder.

In the United States, Pres. Obama is urging Congress to pass sweeping legislation of its own. In the interim, he has issued an executive order to force federal agencies to become sustainable. These agencies will employ enterprise carbon and energy management systems as they, for the first time, begin to understand their own positions.

Companies are used to providing financial documents and executive summaries, which are widely distributed and reviewed. A corporate sustainability report will likely become a required document in its own right and will show how willing the company is to take responsibility for its carbon emissions.

Daniel Stouffer has a lot of information about enterprise carbon and energy management systems and how a visit to www.verisae.com will benefit you.