Carbon Disclosure Project helps giant retailers to green their supply chain

Filed in archive News on October 16, 2007

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a U.K. based independent organization which works to disclose the Greenhouse Gas Emissions of the major corporations of the world. In 2007, it published the emissions data for 2400 of the world's largest corporations, accounting for 26% of global anthropogenic emissions. The CDP represents major institutional investors, with a combined $41 trillion under management

I noticed recently that the organization has performed extremely well in respect to some supply chain greening initiatives in retail industry in U.K. and as a result now several giant global companies are calling on their supply chain partners to measure and manage carbon emissions.

Climate Biz reported that companies such as Tesco, Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Cadbury Schweppes and Imperial Tobacco Group formed the Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration, which will work with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to create a standardized mechanism of measuring their footprint throughout their supply chain.

"By engaging their supply chains in the CDP process, companies will encourage suppliers to measure and manage their greenhouse gas emissions, and ultimately reduce the total carbon footprint of their indirect emissions," said CDP Chief Executive Paul Dickinson in a statement.

The Collaboration announcement coincides with the release of a report that tracked how businesses on the Financial Times list of 350 largest U.K. companies manage and CDP report climate change related risks.

The report found that 87 percent of companies that responded viewed climate change as a commercial risk while 80 percent considered it a commercial opportunity. Nearly 40 percent of respondents have implemented emissions reduction programs.