The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF) is to launch a new shareholder engagement initiative aimed at persuading leading companies to report on their carbon emissions in line with government guidelines.

The decision taken at the Forum's annual conference in Bolton last week, is based on research analysing the degree of compliance among FTSE100 companies with guidelines produced by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) originally in 1999 for reporting greenhouse gas emissions. There are eight minimum reporting requirements and six additional factors.

The Forum's research shows that:

· Only five FTSE100 companies report fully in line with the eight minimum reporting guidelines;
· 55 FTSE100 companies provide no disclosure on any of the eight minimum requirements;
· There is large sectoral variation in reporting. All utility companies quantify their emissions, whereas no information technology companies report on greenhouse gas emissions at all.

The LAPFF's research looked specifically at whether companies quantify their greenhouse gas emissions but found that only 40 companies do so. The Forum concludes "With less than half of the UK's leading companies able to quantify and disclose their carbon emissions, institutional investors have a vital role to hold companies to account over their response to climate change and their provision of relevant information".

The Forum intends to seek support from other institutional investor bodies known to be concerned about the potential impacts of climate change on investments, prior to contacting companies about their disclosures.

The Forum will be seeking commitments from companies to provide reporting that is consistent and complete, as well as to work with other companies in their sectors to develop normalised reporting criteria.

Councillor Bob Sowman, LAPFF chairman, said "Measuring and reporting on greenhouse gas emissions is the vital first step to reducing them. It is unacceptable that so many companies are failing to tackle this problem. Climate change creates a major potential risk for companies and investors in terms of future legislative and fiscal actions and changes in economic activity. It is in all our interests that companies seek to reduce their emissions and exposure to climate change risk as soon as possible."

Notes:

1. The LAPFF comprises 25 pension funds with collective assets of approximately £40 billion.

2. The eight minimum DEFRA requirements for reporting are:

i. A description of the most important greenhouse gas emissions produced by the company.

ii. An explanation of what created the emissions and why they are important to the business.

iii. An explanation of any changes which have affected the figures. For example the figures may have been affected by acquisitions or mergers, or by a part of a process being contracted out.

iv. A statement of whether the information is based on accurate measurement or on sampling or estimates.

v. A statement of what time period is covered by the data.

vi. Quantification of the most important greenhouse gas emissions produced in terms of absolute kilograms carbon dioxide.

vii. A description of past performance against any previous targets with comment on any variance as well as on any financial or other benefits achieved.

viii. A setting out of quantified targets for future improvement in greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/envrp/gas/index.htm

Local Authority Pension Fund Forum

Local Authority Pension Fund Forum

More from Local Authority Pension Fund Forum