The level of verification of CO2 emissions of Italian companies improves: in 2012 almost half of the largest companies are able to disclose carbon emissions and their performance. This is what emerges from the Cdp Italy 100 Climate Change Report 2012, published today by the Carbon Disclosure Project (Cdp) and Accenture.
“Italian companies have significantly improved transparency on the performance of their issues and the growing commitment to disclosure will help reduce financial risks and improve their standing with investors and insurers – said Danilo Troncarelli, Accenture Sustainability Lead – The more important is a better quality in the measurement of emissions which will lead to greater forms of management of the same”.
46 of the 100 most important Italian companies by market capitalization responded to the questionnaire that generated the annual CDP report, compared to 35 last year and 21 in 2010. CDP collects the information on behalf of 655 institutional investors with more than $78 billion in assets, using data as part of their investment and strategy analysis.
The report indicates that companies that entrust the management of climate change issues directly to the board or senior management are increasing (95% compared to 61% in 2011) and that more than half of the companies (58%) have set reduction goals. Here, of the respondents, seven out of eight belong to the utilities sector and four out of six to the industrial sector.
However, these are mostly short-term objectives: 90% of the objectives will be achieved by 2015 and 40% of these will already be achieved by the end of 2012.
Only five companies have set long-term goals to be achieved by 2020.
The reduction of emissions also brings with it economic savings. The analysis by CDP and Accenture, conducted on a sample of 33 of the 46 companies that replied to the questionnaire, showed that the annual savings that could be achieved by their emissions reduction targets could reach 630 million euros. Of the total number of investments related to reducing emissions, more than half have a payback period of less than three years.
“Emissions reduction initiatives in Italy can have a satisfactory return on investment – explains Diana Guzman, Southern Europe Director CDP – However, despite the significant economic advantage that the reduction of emissions would bring, we note that companies are not yet defining an approach for the long-term management of CO2, which is vital for building future economic prosperity”.
In 2012, at the top of the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI), i.e. the ranking on transparency, we find Fiat with 95 points, thus confirming its leadership for the third consecutive year. Followed by Stm, Enel, Eni, Fiat Industrial, Intesa Sanpaolo, Buzzi Unicem, Pirelli, A2A, Italcementi. The top ten companies that make up this year's Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) improved their results by 7 percentage points. Last year, the sectors covered by the top ten in the standings were five. This year, however, seven sectors are represented (Consumer Goods, Energy, Finance, Materials, Industry, Information Technology and Utility). The number of companies with scores greater than 70 (the High Scorers according to the CDP methodology) has grown from 13 in 2011 to 20 in 2012.
Companies were also evaluated on the quantity and quality of their emission reductions and strategies and ranked according to different levels of performance. The best performance results are included in the CDP Carbon Leadership Index (CPLI). Based on this index, the top three positions are occupied by Fiat, Eni and Intesa Sanpaolo. The indices are used by investors to assess corporate compliance with emissions regulations and to guide investment decisions.
