More than 1,600 companies identified by the non-profit platform CDP as having the greatest environmental impact do not disclose environmental data, it said as it launched its latest campaign to get companies to provide information.
CDP, which has standardized data to allow investors and others to compare corporate performance in areas such as climate change, water and deforestation, said 288 financial institutions with nearly $29 trillion in assets property will write to companies to urge them to disclose the data.
Companies targeted in the 2023 campaign include repeat non-disclosers such as Exxon Mobil, Glencore and Caterpillar, CDP said in a statement.
Glencore declined to comment. The other companies did not respond to requests for comment.
In total, non-disclosers emit an estimated 4,200-plus megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year – which CDP says is roughly equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of the United Kingdom, the European Union and Canada combined.
CDP works with small groups of leading shareholders to help them target companies and increase pressure on boards to listen, said Claire Elsdon, CDP’s joint global director of capital markets.
Financial institutions need the data “to support risk management practices, track portfolio alignment with net zero goals and unlock sustainability-related opportunities,” he said. “These tools can serve not only to protect but also improve long-term profitability,” says Elsdon.
Since its launch in 2017, CDP has expanded the universe of companies it targets for data disclosure. That means the number of non-disclosing companies targeted this year will be higher than in its 2022 campaign.
Despite progress, disclosure remains a problem in high-emitting sectors and getting laggards to submit data will prove difficult, he acknowledged.
Overall, about 50% of companies across the sector disclose environmental data, Elsdon told Reuters.
The 2022 campaign yielded responses from 388 high-impact companies out of nearly 1,500 targeted, and CDP says companies are 2.3 times more likely to disclose if they directly engage with institutions financial.
Investors targeting non-disclosure companies this year include Sumitomo Life Insurance, AQR and Legal & General Investment Management.
(Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; editing by Sharon Singleton)
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