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Earlier this month, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) revealed its latest assessment of the performance of British companies in response to the threat of climate change.
In some respects, the CDP’s report for 2010 is encouraging. The organisation coaxes UK companies – those listed on the FTSE 350 – to voluntarily disclose their carbon emissions and to outline attempts at mitigation. This year, more companies than ever on the FTSE 350 – 69%, up from 67% in 2009 – responded to the project’s request to disclose their CO2 emissions.
More than half showed evidence of having integrated climate change into business strategy. An overwhelming majority (96%) said climate change policy was now dealt with at a board or senior management level.
Despite these signs that climate change is being taken increasingly seriously by British business, the CDP notes that disclosure is not necessarily being backed up by the companies in encouraging mitigation of emissions and adaptation to climate change. Only one in 10 of this year’s respondents, the CDP says, are engaging with policymakers to encourage action on mitigation and adaptation. Companies that scored highly in the latest report, such as engineering consultancy Atkins, and Scottish and Southern Energy, not only embed climate change strategy high in the organisation but have also developed carbon reduction plans. Along with National Grid these companies are engaging with policymakers in advance of legislation compelling them to act, including legislation that will eventually make reporting of carbon emissions mandatory. Business needs to play a role in advance of regulation, the CDP says.
Making cuts in emissions is difficult to achieve. Independent verification is also an issue, the CDP says. And some large consumers of energy such as mining companies Kazakhmys and Vedanta Resources did not respond at all to the survey this year. Clearly, there is much work to be done. The hope is that business will wield its enormous power to help tackle climate change and drive forward policy on the issue before it is compelled to do so by law.
Global engineering company Thales takes part in the CDP survey each year (there are global and US versions of the CDP reports). According to Bill Skeates, environment project manager for Thales UK, the Carbon Disclosure Project is “an important first step”. But he points out that its data is not audited. Thales in Britain has thus just started the certification programme for the Certified Emissions Measurement and Reduction Scheme (Cemars), which is part of the government’s carbon reduction commitment, a cap and trade scheme that was first announced in the 2007 Energy White Paper, and renamed the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme in April.
Cemars leads to carbon certification to ISO 14064-1 standards – an integrated set of tools for programmes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions as well as for emissions trading. Skeates says: “Cemars includes all emissions from travel and buildings and is a comprehensive response to carbon disclosure.”
Part of the aim of Cemars is to reduce energy consumption. Thales has set ambitious targets for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and has worked with the Carbon Trust to design an energy audit tool that assesses the carbon footprint of its sites across the UK.
All 40 of Thales sites in Britain are certified to the standard ISO 14001, which was first published in 1996 and specifies requirements for an environmental management system. It applies to those environmental aspects over which an organisation can be expected to exercise control and influence.
Skeates says: “From the late 1990s Thales recognised that good environmental practice makes good commercial sense and [that it] would enable a positive relationship with our key customers and suppliers.” Indeed, as moves have been implemented to improve the environmental performance of the company’s sites, the focus has shifted to its products and supply chain, says Skeates.
To achieve Cemars certification – Thales UK will be audited on its performance in January – reduction of emissions should be greater than 3% each year. The company is looking, for example, at the logistics chain for the supply of its products to see where energy savings can be made. Delivery mileage is a major factor in the company’s carbon footprint, Skeates says.
“Our industries need to change. Intentions are not enough,” he says. “What is required are audited processes that improve sustainability and environmental performance.”