Before you can reduce your impact on the environment, you need to know which areas of your business are causing the most impact. Regularly monitoring and reporting your impacts on the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, can help you:

• identify areas of your business that are producing the most waste and emissions.
• draw up an environmental management plan focused on reducing the specific environmental impacts of your business.
• comply with mandatory reporting requirements.
• present your environmental performance to the public in a transparent and accountable way.

Some common environmental reports used by businesses include greenhouse and energy reporting, corporate sustainability reporting or triple bottom line reporting, and natural resource management monitoring.

For most businesses, environmental reporting is voluntary but there are some mandatory industry reporting requirements that may apply to your business:

• The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act (NGER)
  From 1 July 2008, the NGER has required large corporations to report annually on their greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption and production. Corporations can use the NGER Calculator to estimate whether they meet the reporting thresholds.
• The National Pollutant Inventory (NPI)
  The NPI provides information on the types and amounts of pollutants emitted to the atmosphere. Businesses that meet certain criteria need to supply a yearly NPI report recording their emissions.
• Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO)
  The EEO program is mandatory for larger businesses that use more than 0.5 petajoules of energy per year and requires them to identify, evaluate and report publicly on opportunities to save energy.
• National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS)
  NICNAS is a national notification and assessment scheme that protects the health of the public, workers and the environment from the harmful effects of industrial chemicals. Businesses that manufacture or import certain industrial chemicals must register and provide annual reports to NICNAS.
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) reporting obligations
  Companies in certain circumstances are also required to report their environmental compliance to ASIC.

Introducing best practice reporting frameworks and successfully managing your impacts on the environment can also give you the opportunity to apply for an accredited licence with many of the state Environment Protection Agencies.