Technology company EDS Systems has launched a carbon tax analytics solution called EcoGauge.

This locally designed tool assists organisations with the monitoring and management of their carbon emissions, to ultimately help reduce the administrative burden of compliance measurement and reporting, as well as carbon tax liabilities.

EDS says the solution helps to remove the complexity inherent in greenhouse-gas (GHG) reporting, as well as provides a near real-time view on GHG emissions and the effect of a manufacturing process change.

EcoGauge is a cloud-based system that can instantaneously generate a report by simply plugging in product usage or process data. The report can even classify emissions by source and calculate liability in terms of the Carbon Tax Act.

EDS operations director Francois du Plessis says that considering organisations having to pay equal to the level that they pollute, it is crucial to have access to a tool that monitors and understands carbon emissions, in order to reduce them.

“Our solution provides businesses with visibility of carbon emissions across the entire organisation. Once the tax liability status has been determined, the tool calculates a carbon tax liability amount, taking into consideration any allowance reductions,” adds EDS business development head Eckart Zollner.

EDS can provide training to enable in-house staff to manage the solution themselves, or EDS can offer a holistic service of supplying and managing the solution.

“EcoGauge simplifies carbon monitoring and tax calculations by incorporating the South African Carbon Tax Act's parameters. It considers the South African Carbon Tax framework’s local thresholds and can establish a company’s GHG reporting on a month to month basis,” Zollner explains.

Carbon tax compliance will give organisations the competitive edge and will be a prerequisite for most international and local trades.

“We should expect a big shift in the supply chains as companies choose more carbon-conscious partners.

"Additionally, with the second phase of the Carbon Tax Law fast approaching and the current deferral in phase one about to end, organisations in both the mining and manufacturing industries, along with their consulting agencies, will require such a tool to best analyse their GHG emissions,” Du Plessis states.

EDS is confident that this carbon analytics tool is an effective solution for companies shifting to a more carbon-conscious mindset, regardless of industry. “Why? Because the cost of ignoring climate change will be far higher than the cost of reducing emissions through legislation such as the Carbon Tax Act,” Du Plessis concludes.