There is increasing evidence that climate change will affect financial performance of companies. At the World Business Summit in Copenhagen last month, the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) announced a draft framework for the inclusion of climate change information in companies' annual reports.
The framework aims to “mainstream” climate change reporting – to recognize the risks and opportunities global warming presents and how corporate strategies are addressing them. The CDSB is a consortium of business and environmental organisations, including among others the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), The Climate Group and International Emissions Trading Association.
The reporting framework is now open to public consultation until September with a proposed update to be released in time for the Copenhagen negotiations in December.
Meanwhile, the first of the big banks HSBC which went carbon neutral in 2005 has released its 2008 Sustainability report. Has the move on climate change helped? Yes, through its lending policies where its commitment to the issue was first on the list.
By adopting a framework to move towards a low carbon economy, (even if a bit vague or largely aspirational) by planning climate change related insurance products linked to forest protection, by actively planning to review energy sector policy, it shows big plans.
But actually its carbon footprint has actually increased 44 percent since 2005! So are we seeing more of lip-service than actual translation?
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