Carbon Management On The Rise As A Priority For Blue-Chips

Online, September 21, 2010 (Newswire.com) - The Carbon Disclosure Project's annual survey of the world's 500 largest firms shows that carbon management is steadily climbing the corporate agenda with 85% of respondents now having board-level or other executive-level responsibility for climate change - up from 68% last year.

The Carbon Disclosure Project is an investor-back lobby group that requests firms report publicly on their carbon emissions and climate change strategies.

The report found that companies reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project see climate change as more of an opportunity than a risk, with 9 out of 10 firms identifying significant opportunities and fewer than 8 in 10 identifying significant risks. Companies invest in ways of securing energy supplies and decarbonising supply chains, as well as developing green products and services.

Paul Dickinson, Carbon Disclore Project chief executive, said despite politicians' failure to reach an agreement at Copenhagen, the global recession and the so-called Climategate scandal, the corporate mainstream is effectively driving towards a low-carbon economy.

Dickinson said, "Fuelled by opportunities to reduce energy costs, secure energy supply, protect the business from climate change risk and damaged reputation, generate revenue and remain competitive, carbon management continues to rise as a strategic priority for many businesses."

However, only 48% of the firms said they had managed to integrate climate change and carbon management into their group business strategy, and only 19% revealed significant emissions reductions, despite the increasing level of commitment from the board.

As a consequence, the Carbon Disclosure Project encourages firms to to develop more products and services which help customers cut carbon emissions, and to increase energy efficiency in operations.