from Sunday Herald, 20 October 2013
More than half of Britain’s top 350 companies are failing to play their part in cutting the pollution that is wrecking the global climate, according to an authoritative new survey.
The companies that have scored badly, failed to disclose information or failed to respond at all include many famous names. Among them are Domino’s Pizza, Wetherspoon, Bovis Homes, Cairn Energy, Wood Group, National Express, Eddie Stobart and the London Stock Exchange.
Others include Dixons, Halfords, JD Sports, ITV, Moneysupermarket.com, Babcock and A. G. Barr, the makers of Irn Bru. There are also less well-known but influential finance and manufacturing companies like Jupiter Fund Management, Rathbones, Renishaw and Victrex, as well as a host of others.
“There is an urgent need for those companies who are failing to address the problem of climate change, or doing so only half-heartedly, to face up to the threat their inaction poses not only to their own business, but the planet as a whole,” said Lang Banks, the director of WWF Scotland.
“The poorest performing firms and industry laggards need to shape up, change their ways, and quickly become part of solution. The science around climate change is clear. The alarm bells are ringing. We need action and we need it now.”
The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a not-for-profit organisation which says it works on behalf of 722 investors with more than £50 trillion in assets, analysed the 2013 climate performance of the UK’s leading FTSE 350 companies. Its report seeks to encourage progress by highlighting those that are doing better than most.
But its tables also reveal those who are doing the worst in reporting and reducing carbon emissions. Eleven companies are given the lowest rating of E for their climate performance, with 45 more rated as D (see table below).
CDP pointed out that at least those companies had begun the journey to a low-carbon future by engaging in the process. A further 39 companies scored badly because they failed to disclose enough information to enable their performance to be assessed.
And as many as 90 major companies failed to make any response to CDP’s survey, despite growing pressure on them to act. According to CDP’s chief executive, Paul Simpson, they had “absolutely no excuse”.
He said: “These companies clearly have made a decision that it is better not to respond and therefore there is something they are not happy to see revealed. They are ignoring a very large group of their investors.”
Simpson pointed out that CDP’s survey was designed to get information that could be accurately compared to that of other companies. “Companies not willing to respond are clearly worried about being compared to their competitors,” he said.
The CDP report concluded that the greatest climate change risks for the 350 UK companies were global, as 69% of them had operations spread across 145 countries. Yet 13% reported no risks at all, suggesting that climate change hadn’t been integrated into their business strategies.
“A large part of the operations of UK companies are international and are insufficiently accounted for by companies when considering their environmental impact,” argued Simpson.
Dr Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, thought it was remarkable that so many household names “can’t be bothered” to do much to help reduce climate pollution. “It is almost incredible that high-street brands aren't taking this seriously,” he said.
“As investors and pension-holders get more and more conscious of the risks of high carbon investment, companies who have their head in the sand over carbon are clearly going to be in trouble.”
Companies defended themselves, however, by pointing out that they were trying harder and getting better. “What gets measured gets managed, so it’s important businesses recognise the benefits of carbon reporting,” said Rhian Kelly, environment director at the Confederation of British Industry.
“The CDP report highlights that while many businesses are leading the way in carbon reporting, there is still plenty of work to ensure all firms understand the opportunities from measuring emissions.”
Domino’s Pizza, which was graded as E on climate performance, accepted that its score was too low. “We are taking steps to improve on our environmental impact going forward,” said the company’s new corporate social responsibility manager, Angie Lawrence.
“Domino's realises the importance of this issue and is taking a more strategic view in order to reduce energy, emissions and waste from within the business. We will include more information on our strategy and results in our annual report next spring.”
Other companies rated as E made similar promises. The engineering company, Renishaw, pointed out that it was putting carbon reduction and measurement systems in place that would improve its score in future CDP reports.
The polymer manufacturer, Victrex, said that its forthcoming annual report would show the enhancement of its sustainability strategy. The investment management firm, Rathbones, argued that it was ahead of the companies that didn’t respond, and was working hard to reduce its carbon emissions.
The Scottish industrial plants responsible for the most carbon pollution have been revealed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa). Its emissions inventory for 2012, posted online, shows that the big coal-fired power stations at Longannet and Cockenzie on the Firth of Forth topped the climate polluters’ league.
They were closely followed by the Ineos oil refinery at Grangemouth, shut this weekend because of an industrial dispute, the Peterhead gas plant and the ethylene plant at Mossmorran in Fife. Other major emitters were the Lafarge cement works at Dunbar in East Lothian and the Caledonian paper mill at Irvine in North Ayrshire.
Two of Scotland’s leading whisky distilleries also feature in the top 25 carbon emitters – William Grant & Sons at Girvan in South Ayrshire and Diageo at Leven in Fife. According to Sepa, carbon emissions from both plants have risen steeply, doubling to over 110,000 tonnes each over the last four or five years.
The distillers argued that the rise was due to increased production, and was offset by the carbon dioxide captured when the grain used in distillation was being grown. Grant said it was “fully committed” to sustainability, and Diageo claimed a new £65 million bioenergy plant would make its distillery ”one of the most environmentally sustainable in the world.”
But Richard Dixon described the emissions from the distilleries as “disappointing”. He pointed out that a third of Scotland’s carbon emissions came from just ten industrial plants.
“These figures highlight the urgent need to transform our energy system, by reducing our use of coal, oil and gas, and boosting energy efficiency and renewables,” he said.
The companies failing to combat climate pollution
Scoring E for climate performance
De La Rue
Dominos Pizza
Intermediate Capital Group
Jupiter Fund Management
Michael Page International
Rathbone Brothers
Renishaw
Rotork
St James Place
Unite
Victrex
Scoring D for climate performance
3i
Admiral
Big Yellow
Bellway
Bovis Homes
Britvic
BTG
Cairn Energy
Colt Technology Services
Computacenter
Cranswick
Dignity
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation
F&C Asset Management
Fresnillo
GKN
Greene King
Halma
Hays
Informa
Intertek
ITE
Kazakhmys
KCOM
London Stock Exchange
Marston’s
Micro Focus
National Express
Premier Oil
Provident Financial
Prudential
Redrow
Rexam
RPC
Sage
Segro
SIG
Spirent Communications
Stobart
Synergy Health
Taylor Wimpey
Weir
Wetherspoon
Wood Group
Workspace
source: Carbon Disclosure Project
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