CDP Investors Up 10 Percent in 2013

A record 722 investors with $87 trillion in assets have become signatories to the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) climate change program in 2013, up 10 percent from last year’s 655 investors with $78 trillion.

This represents about a third of the world’s invested capital, CDP says.

The announcement coincides with the launch of the 2013 CDP disclosure season. More than 80 percent of the largest listed companies used the CDP system for climate accountability in 2012. Requests will this year go to over 5,000 listed companies around the world.

In addition to record investors, other 2013 highlights include:

• Strong growth in investor interest in the Americas, with Brazil’s Banco do Brasil Previdência the largest new signatory (with assets of $1,081 billion).
• Heightened investor engagement: Carbon Action, a CDP initiative to accelerate company action on carbon reduction in high-emitting industries, has seen more than a fivefold increase in its investor signatories since inception in 2011. This year, on behalf of 190 investors with assets of $18 trillion, CDP will call on CEOs of 301 of the world’s largest public companies for cost-effective management and reductions of their carbon emissions. The largest new signatories include JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Banco do Brasil S/A.
• Growing awareness of water as a critical business issue with signatories to CDP’s water program almost quadrupling in just three years, reaching 530, up 13 percent from last year, with $57 trillion in assets. It had 137 investor signatories in 2010.
• Global spread with the first signatories from Taipei, including Cathay Financial Holdings and Fubon Financial Holdings.
• Twice as many investors investigating exposure to forest risk commodities. The number of signatories to CDP’s forests program has more than doubled, reaching 184 with $13 trillion in assets.

Also this year, the Forest Footprint Disclosure Project (FFD), pioneered by the Global Canopy Programme, is merging with CDP to provide companies and investors with a single source of information for the interrelated issues of climate, water and forests. CDP says this merger will make it the world’s most comprehensive system for natural capital disclosure.

Companies have until May 30 to report their emissions and emissions-reducing activities to CDP, and June 27 to submit water and forest information. The data is then synthesized in a number of public and investor-facing reports to be published this autumn. CDP data is also disseminated via investor channels, such as Bloomberg terminals, where it is downloaded an average of 1 million times every six weeks.

Bayer and Nestle — both with perfect 100 disclosure scores and A performance ratings — topped the CDP’s 2012 Global 500 list. Pepco Holdings, NYSE Euronext and Wells Fargo topped the CDP’s 2012 carbon performance and disclosure ratings for the S&P 500.

Last week, WSP published suggestions to help companies respond to CDP’s annual questionnaire and earn improved scores.