- New baseline-setting report for corporate climate action will track progress against Paris climate goals in future editions, and finds companies already gaining competitive advantage from reducing their emissions;
- Global business is gearing up to go low-carbon with 85% of companies already having emissions reductions targets in place. Nordic companies fall shy from the global average with 80% reporting emissions reduction targets;
- CDP’s global and regional reports reveal that most targets are still lacking long-term vision and alignment with climate science to keep global warming below critical 2˚C threshold;
- This year’s Climate A Listers are revealed, including 14 companies from the Nordic region; 1 Norwegian, 3 Danish, 4 Swedish and 6 Finnish companies.
October 25, 2016: Nordic corporations have started the transition to a low-carbon economy and some are already capitalizing on the opportunities this affords, whilst a large number risk being left behind through lack of long-term planning and inertia, according to analyses released today by CDP, the not-for-profit global environmental data platform.
CDP’s report, Out of the starting blocks: Tracking progress on corporate climate action, produced in partnership with We Mean Business, presents carbon emissions and climate change mitigation data from 1,089 companies, disclosed to CDP at the request of 827 institutional investors with assets of US$100 trillion. These companies – which represent some of the world’s most significant in terms of market capitalization and environmental impact – account for 12% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. CDP’sNordic edition of the Climate Change Report 2016, focusing on the action and practices in the Nordic region, is published today alongside global analysis.
With entry into force of the Paris Agreement on climate change confirming the shift to a low-carbon economy, CDP will show how business action is stacking up against the world’s new climate goals by tracking this group of companies – including 44 from the Nordic region – in subsequent annual reports.
This year’s global report, which sets the baseline, shows that the low-carbon transition can bring high returns. Over a five-year period, 62 companies have succeeded in cutting their emissions by 10% or more while increasing their revenue by the same margin. Collectively, revenue has increased by 29% and emissions reduced by 26% amongst this group, while the rest of the companies in the sample saw a 6% decrease in revenue alongside a 6% rise in emissions.
However, achieving their current targets would take the 1.089 companies of the sample only one quarter of the way to the level that their emissions should drop to in order to be consistent with keeping global warming below 2 degrees.
The group includes European examples:
- SCA: The Swedish consumer goods company and pulp and paper manufacturer reduced its emissions by 32% while increasing revenue by 19%, achieving a 42% drop in emissions intensity. The company is reducing annual costs by €5 million thanks to a new biofuel-powered kiln at one of its mills;
- Daimler: The German car manufacturer brought down the average fleet emissions by 5% versus the previous year, saving 2.2 million ton CO2eq during the use phase of its cars.
- Sodexo: The French company has developed a range of services to help its clients to reduce their carbon footprint. These services now represent almost 30% of Sodexo’s business.
- Givaudan: The Swiss manufacturer of flavours and fragrances has shifted to electricity from renewable energy sources, contributing largely to the over 10% emissions decrease just in the last year.
With businesses one of the key actors in enabling the global economy to achieve its climate goals, the report reveals that 80% of Nordic companies already have at least one target in place to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions (compared to a global average of 85% and a European average of 92%). However, these targets are lacking in long-term ambition, with just 5 % of companies having set goals for 2030 or beyond (compared to a global average of 14% and a European average of 17%).
Moreover, just a small number, 13, companies in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have so far committed to aligning their emission reduction targets with the latest climate science for a 2˚C pathway.
“As investors look to reduce risk by shifting investments to less carbon intensive infrastructure, the spotlight will shine more intensely on corporate actions. There is still all to play for in the race to seize the opportunities from this transition.”
Some of the largest companies in the world by market capitalization are notably absent from the global analysis, having declined to respond to CDP’s investor-backed disclosure request. CDP will track a group of over 700 non-disclosing companies to monitor if they begin to engage with the process in future years and help investors assess their exposure to unrevealed risk. The three biggest companies by market capitalization that failed to disclose this year are Berkshire Hathaway, Facebook and Amazon.
With the Financial Stability Board’s Taskforce on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) due to publish its recommendations for consultation later this year, pressure on companies to disclose how climate change is likely to impact their business is expected to grow.
Alongside the report today, CDP launches its 2016 Climate A List which comprises those companies identified as A grade for their actions in the 2015 reporting year to mitigate climate change. Following an independent assessment against CDP’s scoring methodology, 193 companies have made the list, including 14 Nordic companies.
The CDP Climate Change Report 2016 – Nordic edition, the global CDP Out of the starting blocks, and the 2016 Climate A List are available on the CDP website, which also includes climate change rankings for thousands of companies that publicly disclose through CDP.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About the CDP Climate Change Report 2016 – Nordic edition
This is the annual Nordic report introducing the CDP climate change program results from Nordic perspective. The Nordic companies included in CDP’s analysis represent 79% of the region’s total market capitalization. Other CDP Europe reports, released on 25th October, cover the regions France-Benelux, DACH, Southern Europe and Central Eastern Europe.
Nordic companies in the global 2016 Climate A List
BillerudKorsnäs, Electrolux, EVRY ASA, Kone Oyj, Lundbeck A/S, Metsä Board, Neste Corporation, Novo Nordisk A/S, Novozymes A/S, SCA, Skanska AB, Stora Enso Oyj, UPM-Kymmene Corporation, Valmet
About the Out of the starting blocks global report
The first in CDP’s Global Climate Tracking Series, the ‘All to play for’ report sets the baseline for corporate climate action using a sample of 1,839 companies selected to represent the most significant in terms of market capitalization and environmental impact. Of these companies, 1,089 responded to CDP’s investor-backed disclosure request, and their progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goals of the Paris agreement will be tracked against this benchmark.
As well as tracking companies’ future progress on reducing emissions, CDP’s annual global report will monitor the adoption of targets based on the most up-to-date climate science (“science based targets”), use of internal carbon pricing, and renewable energy production and consumption.
CDP will also track the 723 companies that did not respond to its disclosure request, to see if they begin to engage with this critical first step of climate action in future years.
About CDP Europe
CDP Europe is part of the CDP worldwide network. CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the global system for companies, cities, states and regions to measure, disclose, manage and share vital information on their environmental performance. CDP, voted number one climate research provider by investors, works with 827 institutional investors with assets of US$100 trillion and 89 purchasing organisations with a combined annual spend of over US$2.7 trillion, to motivate companies to disclose their impacts on the environment and natural resources and take action to reduce them. Some 5,800 companies, representing close to 60% global market capitalization, thereof nearly 1,200 in continental Europe, disclosed environmental information through CDP in 2016. CDP now holds the most comprehensive collection globally of primary corporate environmental data and puts these insights at the heart of strategic business, investment and policy decisions. Please visit www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.
For media information
Ulrike Knörzer, Personal Assistant to MD // +49 (0)30 629 033 164 // [email protected]