The CDP Awards are a calendar highlight for A List companies, cities, policymakers and finance leaders to converge and deliberate on the path forward in the green transition. They are a highlight for our CDP team as well. It is a time to celebrate transparency and promote action on the basis of data.
This year in Europe, CDP partnered with Euronews TV and ChangeNOW to discuss the urgency of the task in front of us. A journey requiring a fundamental refocusing on how our businesses are run, how our financial system supports a sustainable economy, and how high-quality disclosure data drives action.
This journey of transformation represents a shift for organizations. Their success will depend on valuing and protecting nature, adapting to an evolving regulatory landscape, and embracing the sustainable opportunities that lie ahead. All of this will require unprecedented investment from companies, investors and governments alike. To that end, the CDP Awards Europe looked squarely to the solutions; we need to put environmental data to use to move the money.
This was also the first CDP Awards event that I had the pleasure of attending in person since joining as CEO last October. It underscored the message I have been hearing loud and clear from day one: disclosure of actionable data is the foundation on which this transformation will be built. Highlights from the event are now streaming on Euronews.
The Indispensable Role of High-Quality Data
Not only collecting but using environmental data is at the core of CDP’s mission, driving efficiency into this mission has been the basis for our important changes this year to our Portal and Questionnaire. CDP saw a 26% year-on-year increase in disclosure in 2023, showing the increasing focus companies put on measuring their environmental impacts, plans, risks and opportunities. Speakers at the CDP Awards emphasized the increasing need for corporations, cities, financial institutions and regulators to have access to truly decision-useful data.
Solid disclosure data is the basis for companies to access capital, to drive their business efficiency and competitiveness in global value chains, and to ensure their compliance with incoming regulation – particularly here in the EU. We like to think of these data use cases as the A-B-Cs of disclosure data.
We heard many stories where CDP disclosure and scoring has had a direct impact on an organization’s ability to access capital. One example came from German steel company thyssenkrupp, which is investing €3 billion until 2027 in one of the largest industrial decarbonization efforts of any company worldwide. Their CDP score has been instrumental in accessing public funding for their decarbonization initiatives, particularly for their high-emitting steel business, ultimately helping to fund the green hydrogen infrastructure needed for the most high-impact sectors to transition.
Data also drives business efficiency, helping organizations understand their position in the supply chain and meet the growing demands for transparency (and sustainability) from their customers. For CEO Vincent Warnery, Beiersdorf’s internal carbon price has allowed his teams to put sustainability alongside business growth as a KPI for measuring success in product innovation. We are proud that Beiersdorf is on CDP’s A list again this year.
Disclosure data is also a critical tool for compliance, nowhere more so than in Europe where reporting environmental data is now law through the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (the CSRD). CDP’s early work at the vanguard of voluntary disclosures has helped to support the mandatory disclosures being rolled out in many jurisdictions globally.
We Must Green Finance - And Finance Green
Speakers Emmanuelle Assouan from Banque de France, Givaudan CEO Gilles Andrier, Turku mayor Minna Arve and Beiersdorf CEO Vincent Warnery in Paris.
This shift is not just an environmental imperative, but a necessary strategy for shoring up long-term financial profitability and stability. Our speakers underscored the need to divert funds away from activities harmful to the environment and towards sustainable innovation. By accounting for the true cost of nature, organizations can acknowledge the environmental impact of their financial decisions and find funding for value chain-wide change.
Closing the Investment Gap Through Collaboration
"High quality disclosure data is the foundation of change." Sherry Madera on stage at the CDP Awards Europe 2024.
A recurring theme in Paris was the crucial role of collaborative efforts in bridging the climate and nature financing gap. The dialogue highlighted new models of partnership between corporations, financial institutions, and governments. Whether through businesses Beiersdorf and Givaudan collaborating to drive industry-wide change through the Value of Beauty Alliance, or the city of Copenhagen partnering with companies through their Energy Leap program to reduce energy consumption, examples of successful collaboration within and between sectors abound.
This was a central finding of our 2023 CDP Europe Report, which the fantastic Jennifer Tsim from our report partner Oliver Wyman launched at the event. All sectors and industries need to come together to build a sustainable economy. The report was clear. We need companies to shift more spending to green solutions. Financial institutions must collaborate to create innovative solutions that become mainstream. Policymakers must create the right conditions for green initiatives to scale up.
The CDP Awards doesn’t just offer a platform for dialogue, but also acts as a catalyst for the urgent action required to finance our way to a sustainable future. By realigning financial flows, fostering innovative collaborations and leveraging high-quality data, we can indeed make significant strides towards both environmental and financial stability. The time to move the money is now – for the planet, for future generations, and for long-term economic stability.
CDP is looking forward to partnering with the European economy of all shapes and sizes to bring positive change through action powered by data.
The CDP Awards Europe was produced in partnership with Euronews, and the highlights from the day will be broadcast on Euronews globally from April 12-17. Watch the broadcast and additional interviews on the Euronews website.
Thanks to event sponsors Beiersdorf, L'Oréal, MM Group, Symrise, Caixa Bank, Poste Italiane, Rémy Cointreau and AB InBev for supporting the CDP Awards Europe 2024.
Photo credit: Romain Ruiz