How's big business doing on climate change?

The Carbon Disclosure Project's fifth annual global report on the FT500 found that 76% of the 383 top global companies that responded to its survey had put emissions reduction initiatives into place, compared with 48% of respondents last year.

A total of 286 firms said they had implemented such a scheme, suggesting that a majority of major firms recognised the financial and reputation benefits of cutting carbon, the report said.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a collaboration of over 315 institutional investors with assets under management of more than $41 trillion, which aims to focus attention on carbon emissions and energy usage.

Almost four fifths (79%) of publicly-owned companies who responded to the questionnaire recognised the financial risks climate change posed, and a similar number (82%) also saw the potential commercial opportunities of global warming.

Some 95% of those who saw commercial risks in climate change had introduced emissions reduction programmes with a specific target and timeline, and 34% of survey respondents said they were purchasing a percentage of their energy from renewable sources.

Not all good

At the same time, those who replied to the survey reported greenhouse gas emissions totalling almost seven billion tonnes, which represented 14% of all global emissions by humans.

The CDP said this was a 109% rise on last year, and while some was due to improved disclosure, some of the increase indicated rising emissions.

The report went on to say that a growing number of corporations recognised the need to provide information on their response to climate change, with 77% of the FT500 responding to the survey, compared with 72% last year.

All was not good though, with the CDP reporting that a fifth of companies disregarded shareholders' requests for information, either failing to respond at all (12%) or declining to answer (8%). And while the gap between climate awareness and action appeared to be narrowing, climate change was not yet the responsibility of top-tier management in many companies.

The S&P500 report on major US firms found many leading American companies were lagging behind the FT500, with only 29% of those responding to the survey implementing emissions reduction schemes.

'Best in class'

The CDP also launched its latest Climate Disclosure Leadership Index to highlight the 68 companies in the FT500 doing the most to disclose and reduce their emissions. These included Nissan Motor, Coca Cola, Tesco, Hewlett Packard, Marks and Spencer and Norwich Union's parent group Aviva plc.

Aviva was honoured as "best in class" for its approach to climate change disclosure. Louella Eastman, group CSR director, said: "As a forward thinking company - and the first global insurer to go carbon neutral - we want to play our part in addressing the issue of climate change.

"We are committed to reducing our CO2 output and are encouraging others to do the same through our influence as an investor and purchaser, as well as developing insurance products that incentivise climate-friendly behaviour. It's encouraging to see our efforts rewarded with our inclusion, for the second time, in the Climate Disclosure Leadership Index."

CDP chief executive, Paul Dickinson, added: "Aviva has set itself apart from its peers by disclosing the information required by investors to judge its readiness for the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change."

The 2007 FT500 report, which includes the latest Climate Disclosure Leadership Index can be downloaded from the CDP website - see link above/right.