Carbon Disclosure Project
Disseminating Information To Reduce Environmental Impacts
Operating worldwide, the Carbon Disclosure Project works to prevent climate change through surveying organisations and currently holds the largest database of self-report corporate environmental impact information. Research undertaken by the Carbon Disclosure Project includes studies into the emissions reduction strategies of corporations and climate change in the global recession. As well as the research, the Carbon Disclosure Project surveys are broken down into three types:
- Supply Chain
- Investor; and
- Public Procurement.
Investing in a Sustainable Supply Chain – Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain
Commencing in 2008, the Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain research investigates the practices of companies in the supply chain of Carbon Disclosure Project members including Acer Inc, Kellogg Company, Procter & Gamble, Royal Mail, Tesco and Vodafone.
A questionnaire is forwarded to each of the individual companies that make up the supply chain and focuses on seven areas of climate change and business, including:
- Effect (real and potential) of climate change on the business
- Emissions accounting and reduction targets
- Supplier engagement; and
- Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.
The 2008 Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain report found that detailed emissions accounting and plans to reduce carbon footprint had not been adopted by the majority of the supply chain companies. Energy services provider Exelon stated “Many suppliers had never looked at their environmental performance through this lens, and for some, it was a bit daunting from a time and science perspective.”
Engaging supply chain members on the topic of emissions and reducing emissions appears to be beneficial to reducing the environmental impact of business operations. Kellogg Company noted that the process of participating in the supply chain survey had encouraged a supplier to commence its own investigations with Carbon Disclosure Project.
Informing Ethical Investment – Investor Carbon Disclosure Project
Providing information on the largest market capitalised companies to financial services companies including: AXA Group, Bank of America, Ing, The RBS Group and Sun Life Financial Inc., Investor Carbon Disclosure Project has 475 institutional investor members who manage $55 trillion in assets.
Companies surveyed for the Investor Carbon Disclosure Report may change from year to year depending on market changes and mergers and acquisitions. In the most recently completed report, companies surveyed included Bayer, BMW, National Australia Bank, Hewlett Packard, Rio Tinto and Boeing.
The results of the Carbon Disclosure Project 2009 Global 500 Report have revealed an increasing trend to report carbon emissions by large corporations. An increasing number of corporations took the time to disclose environmental impact information with a 100% response rate in Brazil. Individual company responses can be obtained from the Carbon Disclosure Project’s website.
Elkington pointed out in “Cannibals with Forks,” comparisons between environmental impact reports may be difficult, if not impossible, due to the variety of reporting criteria utilised. However the information contained in the Carbon Disclosure Project is based on a standardised questionnaire which allows for comparisons to be drawn between companies, countries and industries.
The Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain and Investor Carbon Disclosure Project assist business with benchmarking their carbon emissions accounting and reduction targets. Standardised information across a variety of countries and industries is provided.
Sources
Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Report 2009
Carbon Disclosure Project 2009 Global 500 Report
Elkington, John (1997) “Cannibals with Forks,” Capstone, Oxford
Carbon Disclosure Project Has Worldwide Reports
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