- Aviva, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and New York State Common Retirement Fund among 746 financial institutions requesting disclosure from companies as part of CDP’s annual environmental impact questionnaire
- CDP to coordinate environmental disclosure request to 15,000 companies on behalf of financial institutions as global mandatory disclosure looms
- Marks the largest voluntary environmental impact disclosure request in CDP history
- For more than two decades, CDP has run the global system for disclosure, pioneering the use of capital markets to foster change among corporates
13 March 2023 (London): This week, 746 leading financial institutions holding over US$136 trillion in assets, will call on more than 15,000 companies across the globe to disclose data on their environmental impact. The request is in the form of a Letter to the Boards of these companies, highlighting the urgent need for the business community to engage on environmental reporting.
In addition to data on climate change, deforestation, water security and biodiversity, the letter is also requesting disclosure on plastic through CDP’s 2023 questionnaire.
CDP, the global non-profit which runs the world’s environmental disclosure system is coordinating this annual disclosure request on behalf of financial institutions across 40 countries – ranging from asset managers and asset owners to banks and insurance companies, including Aviva, the European Investment Bank (EIB), New York State Common Retirement Fund, Storebrand and CPP Investment.
The demand for corporate environmental transparency is greater than ever. This year’s letter sees a nearly 10% increase in the number of financial institutions requesting disclosure through CDP, emphasizing the value of corporate environmental disclosure in enhancing assessment of investment and lending portfolios, and forecasting. Moreover, the increase in engagement reflects a recognition that climate change and irreversible loss of nature and habitats poses indisputable challenges to businesses and investment activities.
Paul Dickinson, Founder Chair of CDP, commented: “Despite suggestions that investors are deprioritizing ESG considerations, this year’s Letter to the Board shows the complete opposite. Capital markets understand the necessity for comprehensive corporate environmental data in informing investment and lending decisions across markets. This, coupled with a record 18,700 disclosures last year – a 38% increase, demonstrates corporate ambition on meeting the mid-century goals of the Paris Agreement.”
“What is more, regulation is coming. Disclosure is already mandatory or soon to become so in most major economies including the UK, EU, Brazil, Japan, and the US. Companies still lagging behind are simply out of touch with market reality and are overestimating their own resilience. They must act now to get ahead of governments and market regulations, and to future-proof their operations.”
Despite the growth in disclosure and incoming regulation, too many high-impact companies still do not disclose their environmental data and are facing renewed calls to act on the request – they include Berkshire Hathaway, Exxon Mobil, Saudi Aramco and Tesla.
Richard Manley, Chief Sustainability Officer, Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Investing, CPP Investments, said: “Consistent, decision-useful information is critical for investors to evaluate and assess the potential impacts of climate-related risks and opportunities on a company’s performance which is why we’ve supported the CDP since its inception in 2006. We also commend CDP’s decision to incorporate the ISSB’s Climate-related Disclosures Standards into its disclosure platform. We believe this will further support the momentum towards globally recognized sustainability-related disclosure standards that are important to informing capital allocation decisions by investors. This will also enable companies’ transition planning by providing valuable data inputs to tools like our Abatement Capacity Assessment Framework.”
This year, CDP will support companies to disclose on plastics for the first time, a significant step in its plan to scale disclosure on more environmental topics. In 2023, companies will also be able to disclose their activities under the EU Taxonomy, through a set of pilot questions. This follows the announcement made at COP27 that CDP will incorporate the ISSB climate disclosure standard into its global disclosure system from 2024, ensuring rapid accelerated early adoption of the standard across the global economy.
Dickinson further noted: “While the boost in capital market support and year-on-year increase in disclosure is hugely encouraging, the focus mostly remains narrowly on climate. I urge all companies and financial institutions to actively engage with this year’s disclosure on climate change, forests, water and plastics. Addressing the climate crisis and forging an unwavering path toward 1.5C requires purposeful data-backed action on nature and environmental degradation.”
-Ends-
Notes to editor
Additional details on CDP Disclosure
In 2022, a record-breaking 18,700+ companies, including listed companies worth US$60.8 trillion, disclosed their environmental data through CDP. This total comprised 5,155 companies who responded to the Letter to the Board, key suppliers who responded to CDP’s questions per request from corporations, and companies who chose to disclose voluntarily through CDP.
In 2022, CDP standardized Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) aligned disclosures from public companies worth half of market capitalization. In addition to investors, CDP also facilitates similar at scale engagement for corporate customers with their supply chain. CDP’s disclosure mechanism is now being used by banks and private market investors to drive similar best practice climate disclosures and management beyond public markets to private companies and SMEs.
CDP media contact:
For more information, or exclusive interviews: Toyosi Adebayo | [email protected]
About CDP
CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with more than 740 financial institutions with over $130 trillion in assets, CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests.
Nearly 20,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2022, including more than 18,700 companies worth half of global market capitalization, and over 1,100 cities, states and regions. Fully TCFD aligned, CDP holds the largest environmental database in the world, and CDP scores are widely used to drive investment and procurement decisions towards a zero carbon, sustainable and resilient economy.
CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, The Investor Agenda and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
Find out more via www.cdp.net or follow us on twitter @CDP.