Investors call on global firms to reduce GHG emissions

International investment companies are requesting the world's biggest companies reduce their CO2 emissions in a new campaign coordinated by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CPD).

More than 30 investors, including Aviva and Scottish Widows, with US$7.6 trillion in assets, have joined the Carbon Action initiative to encourage the 500 largest organisations in the FTSE Global Equity Index to adopt effective carbon reduction activities and, therefore, provide greater security for their investments.

The CPD is this week sending out letters to the FTSE Global 500, on behalf of the investment firms, requesting “clear action from companies to reduce emissions”.

Carbon Action is specifically aiming to encourage firms to reduce their emissions year-on-year and to invest in initiatives that reduce GHG emissions and have a positive return on investment. It is also asking organisations that have yet to set a target for reducing their emissions do so and disclose it publicly.

“This initiative focuses on cases where companies do not need to make a choice between emissions reductions or higher financial returns,” says Craig Mackenzie, head of sustainability at Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.

“In the face of rising energy costs, reducing a company’s emissions often means higher profits. Efficient management of energy offers a huge win-win: lower carbon emissions, higher returns for shareholders.”

Paul Dickinson, executive chairman of CDP, said: “An economic revolution is needed to decouple financial growth from growth in emissions.”
“Carbon Action is about accelerating companies’ mitigation efforts in order to reduce the major long-term threat to the global economy which climate change represents.”