European and UK financial institutions have topped the chart for CDP’s 2021 Non-Disclosure Campaign (NDC), its report disclosed.
A total of 168 financial institutions, from 28 different countries and representing $17trn (€15trn) in assets, signed up to the campaign and selected to engage with 1,317 companies on environmental disclosure.
Most of the participants were headquartered in Europe (77) and in the UK (42), followed by North America (34), South America (6), Asia ex-Japan (4), Oceania (4) and Japan (2).
The campaign allows investors to directly engage with companies that have previously failed to disclose their environmental impact through CDP. Results for the 2021’s campaign showed a 56% increase in participating investors and a 29% increase in the number of companies they engaged with compared to 2020.
The report also disclosed that a record 25% of companies, which were engaged in the campaign, disclosed through CDP in 2021. This includes the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Facebook and Twitter, which disclosed through CDP for the first time after being targeted through the campaign.
Overall, results of the campaign show that companies are more than twice as likely to disclose their environmental impact if directly engaged by investors to do so.
Disclosure through CDP questionnaires provides financial institutions with comparable, consistent and TCFD-aligned data across their portfolios. CDP’s campaing offers participants the opportunity to target those companies that continually decline to disclose, as well as a tangible process in which they can contribute to driving corporate action and broadening the coverage of environmental data.
“The availability of data is essential to be able to do thorough company analysis and assessing the relevant risks that companies are exposed to,” said Sandra Metoyer, head of responsible investments at AP Pension.
“Through CDP’s Non-Disclosure Campaign we are able to create leverage by joining forces with other large investors, and push for enhanced disclosures related to climate. The disclosed company data also helps us identify leaders and laggards on climate, highlighting where we need to focus our engagement efforts,” she said.
She added that subsequently AP Pension can encourage companies to take action to create more sustainable business activities where data shows it is most needed.
“We see the campaign as a good opportunity to enhance transparency, improve our investor reporting and execute on our strategy for responsible investments,” she said.
No comments yet