Energy Efficiency, GHG Emissions  -  December 13, 2021

Danone, HP, Unilever Lead CDP A List for Climate Change

The CDP named 272 companies worth $12 trillion in market cap for their environmental leadership, based on their level of transparency and performance on climate change, forests, and water security. Among the leaders cited for performance in all three areas are Danone, HP Inc., L’Oreal, Philip Morris International, and Unilever plc. In total 14 companies achieved this triple A score, an increase on last year’s record of 10.

The non-profit that operates a global environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states, and regions. A total of 200 companies were included on the list for their activities in climate change, including Altria Group, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Best Buy, Colgate Palmolive, Diageo, Ford Motor Company, General Mills, General Motors, JLL, Microsoft, Saint-Gobain, Salesforce, Stanley Black & Decker and Volvo Car Group.

 The number of companies on the Climate A List has dropped from 280 last year to 200 in 2021, as the consensus on what qualifies as climate leadership has evolved and the bar raised. Much of the low-hanging fruit at companies’ disposal has now been utilised and more ambitious action is urgently required. 

Among the criteria to score an A is that companies must have robust governance and oversight of climate issues, rigorous risk management processes, verified scope 1 and 2 emissions, and be reducing emissions across their value chain. Most also now have well-established emissions targets that have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative and evidence of targets that cover their scope 3 emissions.

Many companies made a significant improvement in the quality of their disclosures this year and moved up in the rankings - 509 companies improved their scores from a C or below in 2020 to a B in 2021, meaning they have advanced from merely disclosing and being aware of their environmental impact, to taking action to manage it.

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