At WEF: CDP’s ‘A List’ showcases the companies leading on climate action
We Mean Business coalition
At the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this week, investors welcomed the annual scorecard highlighting which businesses are ‘best in class’ for minimizing environmental impact – CDP’s A List.
The companies that make the ‘A-list’ on climate change are making it clear – not only that it’s possible to take action on climate, but that taking action is helping to generate real business benefits including growth, risk management and innovation.
This sends a clear signal to global policy makers at the forum: that business stands ready to partner with governments to usher in the zero-carbon economy. The urgency of the need for greater ambition and action on climate was underlined by the IPCC’s recent report on 1.5°C, which shows that limiting global warming to 1.5°C is still possible but requires rapid progress across all sectors and geographies.
This year, We Mean Business coalition partner CDP scored over 6,800 companies (from A to D-) on their action on climate change, water security and deforestation, in what is the world’s largest analysis of corporate environmental action.
Apple, Mitsubishi Electric and Unilever are among the 126 companies that have made it onto the latest Climate Change A List.
Other companies that made the list include Johnson & Johnson, Nestle, China Mobile, Danone and Microsoft. Personal care company, L’Oréal and fragrance giant Firmenich were the only two companies to get As across climate change, deforestation and water security.
The data gives investors critical information about which companies are embracing the opportunities of the zero-carbon transition, as well as helping to determine best practice for corporate action to tackle climate-related issues.
CDP’s data is increasingly being used to create financial products including the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s low-carbon index created by Goldman Sachs, and the STOXX Low Carbon Indices.
These demonstrate that climate action is helping companies deliver growth. The STOXX Global Climate Change Leaders Index – which is based on the CDP A List – outperformed the STOXX Global 1800 by 5.4% per annum from December 2011 to July 2018.
“Environmental action is mainstreaming and those companies which prioritize it today will gain competitive advantage over their peers as the market shifts. As the world becomes ever more aware of the economic and physical impacts of environmental risks, A List companies are beacons lighting the path for corporates worldwide,” CDP said.
“While many companies are already taking bold environmental action, we need to see this accelerate further, with more ambitious government policy to match,” CDP added.
CDP gathers the data through its annual disclosure request on behalf of 650 investors, with $87 trillion in assets, to help them manage risk in their portfolio and take advantage of new market opportunities.
2019 is of particular importance as the year for national governments to announce they will increase their climate policy ambition under the Paris Agreement. By setting strategies to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 governments will enable more businesses to follow the lead of the A List by providing the clarity and confidence needed to go even further and faster on climate change.