§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the progress FTSE 350 companies had made by the end of 2001 towards reporting on their environmental impacts; and what assessment she has made of the progress that would have been made if there was a mandatory requirement for such reports. [29325]
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§ Mr. Meacher[holding answer 22 January 2002]: About 79 of the FTSE 350 report while a further 24 had plans to do so. A further 10 per cent. of other companies in the FTSE 350 mentioned environmental issues, but did not report substantively on environmental performance. These figures are now being reviewed to improve the estimates and to distinguish between companies that produce quantified performance data and those that do not, since some reports contain little or no quantified information.
A mandatory reporting requirement would have been expected to lead to environmental reporting by all the companies concerned.