全球氣候績效評比 187企業上榜

The new “A List” of leading climate performance businesses from around the world, released Friday by the Climate Disclosure Project, numbers 187 companies, including several that have drawn vehement environmental protests, such as TransCanada Corporation and Bayer AG.

TransCanada has been the subject of protest demonstrations for years over its pipelines carrying Alberta tar sands bitumen, including the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that is currently awaiting a decision from President Barack Obama on whether it is in the U.S. national interest to permit the pipeline to cross the Canada-U.S. border.

Bayer CropScience is a major manufacturer of neonics, a widely-used class of pesticides implicated in high-profile bee die-offs. Bayer CropScience is a unit of the German chemical and pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG, which is listed as a climate leader in the CDP report.

The Carbon Disclosure Project, now known simply as CDP, was established in the UK in 2000 as an independent not-for-profit organization and represents 767 investors representing $92 trillion in assets, more than a third of the world’s invested capital.

Every year, the CDP organization distributes standardized survey questions to private sector corporations and collects responses for assessment and public disclosure as a barometer of climate change information.

The CDP Global 500 Climate Change Report 2014 analyzed companies’ environmental strategies and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions based on the responses from the world’s largest 500 listed corporations, and identifies the best performers.

The A List represents just nine percent of the 1,971 companies scored this year but accounts for US$23 billion of the annual investment to reduce carbon emissions – just under half of the US$50 billion invested by the full sample.

The largest leading companies by market capitalization include Apple Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Google Inc. Almost half of the performance leaders are headquartered in Europe, with a further third located in the United States or Japan.

More than a quarter of the Spanish and Belgian companies that took part in CDP’s climate change program were awarded an A, proportionally giving Spain and Belgium the most leaders. Companies based in Portugal, the Netherlands and South Korea also performed well.

Information provided by nearly 2,000 listed companies was independently assessed against CDP’s scoring methodology and ranked accordingly. Awarded an A grade for their performance, they earn a position on the first global ranking of corporate efforts to mitigate climate change.

CDP calculates that collectively the climate performance leaders have reduced their total, absolute, greenhouse gas emissions by 33 million metric tons in the past reporting year.

The investments of companies on the Climate Performance Leadership Index 2014 to reduce carbon output yield average annual emissions reductions of nine percent per company and achieve impressive financial results, with an average internal rate of return of 57 percent for each project.

“A Lister” Iberdrola, the Spanish public multinational electric utility, discloses an investment of US$3.8 billion in energy monitoring and distributions systems to cut its emissions by 50,000 metric tons.

A List Spanish industrial technology firm Abengoa saves US$911 million annually by installing two solar power plants.

CDP has recognized eight automakers by placing them on the A List, including BMW AG, Daimler AG, Fiat, General Motors, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen.

Car manufacturer General Motors implemented route redesigns, mode changes from road to rail, and other measures that have resulted in emissions savings of 244,000 metric tons a year and cost savings of US$287 million.

CDP acknowledged that Daimler has reduced the CO2 emissions of its new passenger car fleet in Europe by more than 20 percent to 134 g/km over the last five years.

By the year 2020, the CO2 emissions of Daimler’s European plants are to be reduced by 20 percent compared with 1990, while unit sales figures are set to rise. This represents a two-thirds reduction in emissions per passenger car produced.

Nissan Motor Co. also scored a perfect “100A” showing that Nissan’s efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its corporate activities through power conservation have been effective. Energy procurement is being shifted toward sustainable sources, such as biomass and solar power.

Last year, Nissan reduced CO2 emissions from global corporate activities while increasing vehicle production by 5.1 percent. 

Although 96 percent disclose that climate change poses a risk to their business, 99 percent identify opportunities through mitigation strategies.”

Construction group Samsung C&T Corporation, for example, calculates that responding to consumer demand for green products can increase its sales profits by at least nine percent within the next seven years.