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Since its inception in 2000, CDP has been running a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, it is a not-for-profit charity focused on environmental reporting. It tracks investors, companies, and cities that are taking action to build sustainable economies by measuring and understanding their environmental impacts.
This year, CDP is putting an even brighter spotlight on 1,320 organizations that it says need to boost their reporting of environmental risks. With a disclosure platform centered on three risks—climate change, deforestation and water security—the group provides investors with data that they can use to analyze the profiles of their current or potential investment targets.
“Investor focus on environmental issues has continued to intensify over the last year, with companies coming under increasing pressure to align their business model with the shift to a low-carbon economy and net-zero emissions,” Corporate Secretary reports. “Attention is set to increase further in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP26, due to be held in Glasgow this fall.”
CDP says the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) will require signatories to set science-based targets to reach net-zero no later than 2050. So far, 43 banks have committed to align operational emissions from their portfolios with net-zero pathways by 2050 or sooner. To meet these commitments, investors and financial institutions need environmental disclosure from their portfolios.
More Data, Please
According to CDP, 168 investors with $17 trillion in assets want to see better and more accurate environmental data disclosure from 1,320 organizations, including Netflix, Alibaba Group, Rio Tinto and Roche Holding AG. This year’s campaign attracted record levels of support from investors, CDP says, with a 56% increase since 2020 in the number of investors requesting corporate environmental disclosure.
“These investors are also engaging 29% more companies than last year, which collectively represent over a third of all global non-disclosers,” CDP adds. “The campaign demonstrates that companies are more than twice as likely to disclose their environmental impact when directly engaged by investors.”
The list of investors that want more environmental disclosures from the companies they’re investing in include Amundi, Aviva, Cathay Financial Holdings, HSBC Global Asset Management, Legal and General Investment Management, M&G Investments, Nuveen, and Schroders and Union Investment.
CDP says these and other investors use its data to make greener, environmentally-conscious investment decisions. That data gathered concerns organizations that collectively emit more 4,700 megatonnes (Mt) of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) annually.
Carbon-Neutral by 2050
One of CDP Supply Chain Program’s newest members is Dow, which is looking to track climate impacts in its supply chain and identify collaborative decarbonization opportunities with its suppliers, Waste 360 reports. This effort is part of the chemical manufacturer’s Sustainable Procurement multigenerational plan and supports its overall goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.
“Dow has an aggressive target to reduce its net annual carbon emissions by 5 million metric tons (versus 2020 baseline) by 2030 and to ensure Dow’s ecosystem is carbon neutral by 2050,” said Leticia Jensen, global purchasing sustainability director for Dow, in a statement. “While we continue to take action to reduce our own emissions, our suppliers will play a critical role in helping Dow achieve carbon neutrality.”
Waste 360 says Dow will also engage its suppliers by providing feedback on areas for possible improvements, helping to build expertise in climate accounting. “This engagement is part of Dow’s multigenerational plan to advance Sustainable Procurement practices,” Dow’s Kyle Bandlow, corporate media relations director, told the publication.
“By making climate data available on CDP’s platform, Dow can help its customers, suppliers and other value chain partners to make more informed decisions about their own risks,” Bandlow continued, “and identify opportunities for collaboration to decrease the total carbon footprint.”
