21 September 2010 | Angeline Albert
The top five global leaders for carbon disclosure and performance are Siemens, Deutsche Post, BASF, Bayer and Samsung Electronics, according to the 2010 Carbon Disclosure Project Global 500 report.
These companies are in the new Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI) and scored highest (95 or above out of 100) in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI).
Despite the lack of global agreement on climate change, carbon management is becoming a competitive driver for the largest global companies, the report produced by PriceWaterhouseCoopers says.
Some 85 per cent of the global firms surveyed reported having board or senior executive level responsibility for climate change and nearly half (48 per cent) are now embedding climate change initiatives into the overall business strategy and across the organisation.
The CDP acts on behalf of 534 institutional investors, holding $64 trillion (£41 trillion) in assets under management and some 60 purchasing organisations including Cadbury, PepsiCo and Walmart. It aims to achieve a consistent approach to measuring carbon emissions across the supply chain and wider economy.
An increasing number of firms, including Walmart and Procter & Gamble are using scorecards to measure supplier emissions, the CPD said.
Nine out of 10 companies surveyed identified significant commercial opportunity arising from climate change, separating the companies driven by risk factors, from those companies identifying and seizing competitive advantages and cost benefits.
Despite the significant increase of boardroom and executive-level engagement, and 65 per cent of global 500 respondents implementing emissions reduction targets, still only 19 per cent of the global 500 companies are showing significant emissions reductions, the CDP found.
North America significantly lags behind Europe in disclosure and performance. Some 21 per cent of European respondents are in the CPLI, compared to 6 per cent of North American respondents.
“Fuelled by opportunities to reduce energy costs, secure energy supply, protect the business from climate change risk and reputational damage, generate revenue and remain competitive, carbon management continues to rise as a strategic priority for many businesses,” said Paul Dickinson, CEO of CDP.
