What concrete actions are firms taking to tackle climate change in 2009? This week Paul Dickinson, CEO of Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), addresses this question by offering daily "sneak peeks" at the results of this year's CDP Global 500 and S&P 500 Reports, produced by PricewaterhouseCoopers, ahead of their September 21 launch in New York.
Backed by 475 institutional investors with assets of over US $55 trillion, Carbon Disclosure Project's climate change information request was sent to 3,700 of the world's largest corporations to discover how businesses are managing their carbon emissions and climate change risks and opportunities
This year's S&P 500 report reveals that companies involved in the climate change issue are increasingly reporting that their involvement in environmental and energy concerns is both a social and financial must.
With government commitment and consumer preference as primary drivers, corporate America is actively pursuing strategies and investments to adapt to a new economic reality. The new administration has sent a message, loud and clear, that mitigating greenhouse gas emissions is a national priority, one example being the current negotiations under way in Congress around the Waxman-Markey bill.
Perhaps even more significant for business is that companies are finding that consumers are increasingly beginning to make purchasing decisions with environmental concerns in mind. In addition, an increasing number of clients want -- and are looking -- to work with companies with strong climate change credentials.
So it should come as no surprise that more companies than ever before are stepping up their climate change-related activities. Their aims are to find solutions that address a range of stakeholder concerns, but also help their bottom line.
With this in mind, in compiling this year's CDP reports, we saw an underlying theme in a number of responses from companies taking a strong stance on climate change: Green is green.
In the reports we release on Monday, you'll see many companies say they are looking at strategic ways -- from a business perspective -- to incorporate more efficient forms of energy and adopt more sustainable business practices. Companies are looking at energy efficiency, cutting energy consumption and also making carbon intensive operations more efficient and reducing intensity, as ways to cut costs and emissions.
Coupled with this, many U.S. companies said they were poised to take advantage of incentives included in the federal stimulus package. We are also hearing from companies all over the world that regulatory incentives and long-term indicators are key to enabling them to achieve long term reductions. For many companies, long-term regulatory indicators are going to be important in setting reductions.
We are also seeing huge opportunities for companies providing low-carbon solutions -- video conferencing sales are growing -- as a substitute for business travel, and the 21st century consumer is becoming more inclined to purchase low-carbon products, such as hybrid cars and low-energy light bulbs, which can affect company competitiveness and direction. These shifts in business activities, affected by climate change, are already impacting profits and this trend will of course continue to grow.
Thus, there is a heightened awareness that Wall Street is watching, and that those companies acting proactively on climate change won't go unrecognized. As far as the leaders go, there is no doubt that green is green -- providing the solutions to climate change will provide one of the biggest growth areas for businesses in the coming years.
For now, this year's CDP report is showing clearly that more and more companies are listening to consumer concerns, aligning their climate change position with that of the government's and increasingly investigating innovative ways to find smart, green solutions that will work for their business and society.
Paul Dickinson is the Chief Executive Officer of the Carbon Disclosure Project. More information about CDP is available at www.cdproject.net and by following the organization on Twitter @CDProject.
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