London based Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness on global climate change, released their annual Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) today.
The list, compiled from responses to a questionnaire CDP sent to over 2400 companies worldwide, compares FT 500 companies in each sector on how transparent they are on regarding their climate change practices.
Institutional investors worth over $41 trillion, known as “signatory investors”, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC put their name on CDP’s questionnaire. The 315 signatory investors will use the resulting information to “assess the potential risks and opportunities relating to climate change” from participants in order to better advise clients on how to invest.
Participation in the questionnaire was voluntary, and the results are “self-reported, largely non-verified responses,” according to today’s published report.
Companies that made the list include Hewlett-Packard, Citigroup and Coca-Cola.
The Carbon Disclosure Project was founded in 2000 by CEO Paul Dickinson. The CDP began publishing its Climate Disclosure Leadership Index in 2003.
Commentary: Seven of the 68 companies on the CDLI were also listed in Ethisphere’s 2007 World’s Most Ethical Companies Ranking:
- Baxter International
- Marks & Spencer
- Unilever
- Alcoa
- HSBC
- Suncor Energy
- Sun Microsystems
Fifteen signatory investors were on the list as well. Since they obviously weren’t excluded from participating, and taking into consideration the fact they helped develop the questionnaire, it’s worth asking: why didn’t ALL the signatory investors make the cut?
