News & Events

Christy van der Merwe - Engineering News 8 July 2011

Sustainability software developer CarbonSystems CEO David Solsky believes the South African market has the potential to be the fastest growing market globally in terms of gathering and reporting on data related to sustainability.

He adds that South African companies are likely to start moving even faster than their counterparts in the US and the UK, because the drivers are more intense locally.

CarbonSystems, which was rated one of the top ten providers of carbon and energy management software in 2010 by Verdantix, says that there are three major drivers accelerating the uptake of carbon, energy and environmental management accounting software in South Africa.

Firstly, increasing energy prices are forcing companies to better manage energy consumption and identify energy saving actions that can be implemented to reduce operating costs.

CarbonSystems produces up-to-date financial-grade business and compliance reporting, with automated error checking and the ability to manage complex organisational structures.

Secondly, the JSE listing requirements, in line with the King Code, state that listed companies will have to produce an integrated report for their financial years starting on or after March 2010. Because investors recognise that environmental risks can pose a significant threat to the bottom line of a company, integrated representation of a company’s performance in terms of financial and nonfinancial results is required.

And, thirdly, South Africa’s impending carbon tax will require that companies pay tax for carbon dioxide emitted by the ton – thus, carbon accounting will play a critical role in assessing carbon liabilities and managing carbon risk.

Solsky explains the drivers are fundamentally different in different regions – for example, in Asia, carbon accounting is driven by global firms putting pressure on their supply chains in an effort to green them, while, in the US, the major driver is to reduce operational costs, particularly energy, following the global financial crisis.

CarbonSystems will be setting up an office in South Africa, in addition to the group’s already established footprint in Australia, the UK and the US.

Solsky explains that CarbonSystems’ senior management recently visited South Africa to meet with potential clients, as well as to look for a location for an office and to start the search for human resources, such as business analysts and project managers, to support clients locally and in other regions, such as Europe.

He describes the company’s offering as Sustainability 2.0, because it is about more than just collecting and presenting data ‘within the four walls’ of the organisation. Rather, CarbonSystems’ enterprise sustainability platform (ESP) supports sustainability performance management right across the value chain.

CarbonSystems produces up-to-date financial-grade business and compliance reporting, with automated error checking and the ability to manage complex organisational structures.

CarbonSystems can also assist in improving operational efficiency and cost savings by developing a sustainability performance management framework and, beyond that, can verify return-on-investment and payback on sustainability initiatives.

Read more here.