The Carbon Disclosure Report can help level part of the CSR playing field

Evaluating the overall CSR performance of companies is a little bit hit and miss as there are few established benchmarks but the rapid growth of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) might be changing all of that specifically for corporate performances concerning greenhouse gas emissions. In less than a decade the CDP (based in the UK) have become the watchdog of corporate record keeping around emissions performance and the growth looks set to keep growing. Better still corporations are seeking to be included in the tracked data to raise a better profile for their own performance. The CDP started in 2000 and began sending out requests for data to the largest corporations in 2003, that first year about 230 companies responded to get the data off and running. By 2009 the growth in participation was nothing short of phenomenal with almost 3,000 companies now taking part from more than 60 different countries around the world. Most significantly the data compiled by the CDP now represents the largest global database of corporate climate change information in the world. Of the 500 largest globally listed companies some 82% now share their information with the non profit organisation, the collective response has been so great that  the CDP is also now the primary source for reduction target information also. Lord Adair Turner, Chairman, UK Financial Services Authority summed up role the CDP plays:

“The first step towards managing carbon emissions is to measure them because in business what gets measured gets managed. The Carbon Disclosure Project has played a crucial role in encouraging companies to take the first steps in that measurement and management path,”

A new wave of emissions reduction has also evolved over the last two years which takes things to an even more impressive level. Some large global companies including IBM and Hewlett Packard are now insisting that their entire supply chain must publicly disclose greenhouse gas emission as a condition of continued business partnership. I’d hope that the continued domino effect of such decisions will mean that all major corporations and their suppliers will release similar reporting in the near future, emissions reductions certainly takes a buy-in from our corporations as well as the the public’s actions. The CDP plan to implement new local and regional reporting in the short terms which will further enhance the data that they compile. If similar steps can be taken in other performance evaluation measurements the playing field amongst corporations will further be leveled, the public will have better information when selecting goods and services, and the planet and workers will benefit from the resultant improvements. To learn more about the Carbon Disclosure Project please visit their website.Their newest global report is now available for download.