Carbon Disclosure Project
Contact
(Head - Climate Change and Energy Programme)
WWF India,
New Delhi Main
T: +91 11 43516245
In 2006 CDP expanded the global reach of the project by writing to over 2100 companies on behalf of 225 investors representing total assets of over US$31 trillion. This expansion was achieved by working with national partners and included 9 specific country expansions and one sector expansion - global electric utilities. The company responses are made available to the signatory investors and made publicly available where companies give us permission to do so (approximately 80% of the time). For each expansion an analysis of the responses is undertaken and a report summarising the key findings produced. The responses and reports are promoted widely though launch events around the world and made available on the CDP website www.cdproject.net for free. The simple process behind CDP backed by vast investor support has led to impressive response rates from corporations, in 2006 72% of FT500 companies answered the CDP questionnaire, up from 47% in 2003.
In 2007 CDP will continue with this expansion process and due to the importance of India. CDP, in partnership with WWF-India, plans to write to 100 of the largest companies in India based on market capitalisation.
Objectives of CDP Indian Expansion
India’s rapid economic growth in the last few years has made it one of the key emerging economy. Whilst Indian corporations have grown their activity primarily within India they are increasingly aspiring to become global players.
The primary objective of expanding CDP into India is to get more Indian companies to measure, manage and reduce their GHG emissions. The CDP process of asking questions will stimulate them to consider their GHG emissions footprint and the other risks and opportunities climate change presents to their business.
In addition to raising awareness and changing behaviour in the business community we will also engage and educate Indian investment companies (banks, pension fund and insurance companies) about the risks and opportunities they face from climate change.
Historically many investors have underestimated these impacts as climate change is still a relatively new phenomenon in the investment world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has identified the Finance Sector as an aggregator of risks from climate change and also stated that it will ‘play a central part in adaptation and mitigation activities’. We have seen a massive increase in awareness from investors in developed economies over the last five years and now we must engage those in emerging markets.
Currently CDP has no Indian investor signatories to the information request. Through the expansion into India we will approach a number of Indian investors to become signatories to CDP and take the conversation on the risks and opportunities climate change presents to investment portfolios into these institutions. Being part of CDP will also link Indian investors with investor initiatives happening around the world and include them as part of this global process. Through expansion in Brazil, another emrging economy CDP have increased the number of Brazilian signatory investors from zero in 2004, to 4 in 2005 to 15 in 2006 demonstrating that through our work we can engage emerging market investors in considering climate change.
The CDP India Project, as an independent private sector initiative involving investors and corporates, with the support of WWF-India and CII, will also raise the profile of climate change as an issue to the Indian government and act as an additional lever for change in policy. CDP has been welcomed by governments around the world as an excellent example of voluntary corporate and investor action on climate change. By demonstrating that investors and corporations are taking climate change seriously, measuring, reporting and working to reduce their impact we can encourage further actions from government to create a level playing field and create a long term policy framework on climate change.
