Climate Change: What Are The Corporate Risks and Opportunities?
2006年10月3日 - 11:46PM
PRニュース・ワイアー (英語)
1st Carbon Disclosure Project-SBF 120 PARIS, Oct. 3
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AXA and ADEME (Agence De l'Environnement
et de la Maitrise de l'Energie) present the findings of the Carbon
Disclosure Project FT500 and SBF 120. The request for information
involving the SBF 120, which was conducted for the first time in
France this year on a sample of the country's 120 biggest
corporations, assesses the corporate risks and opportunities
associated with climate change and global warming. The inaugural
2006 results confirm that, although awareness of the stakes of
climate change has risen among French businesses, a number of key
industries remain to be convinced. The Carbon Disclosure Project
(CDP) is a coalition of 225 global investors, with a combined total
of more than 31.5 trillion dollars in assets. The aim of the
request for information is twofold: to inform Project members of
the corporate risks and opportunities associated with the carbon
constraint and climate change, and to improve the quality of
corporate disclosures on the subject. The first request for
information, which was made in 2000, targeted the world's 500
biggest corporations (FT500). Since then, the response rate has
increased steadily. In 2006, with the support of AXA and ADEME, the
scope of the CDP was expanded to encompass more companies in
France. The request for information was sent to the 120 largest
French corporations (SBF120). An encouraging response rate The
CDP-SBF 120 survey garnered a response rate of 45%, comparable to
that observed for the first-ever CDP request for information.
Thirty corporations included in the SBF 120 are also included in
the FT500 index, and some of them have taken part in previous
years' surveys. Inconsistent disclosure and commitment levels At
first glance, the survey yielded mixed results. Indeed, the
difference in responses -- both between industries and within them
-- in terms of quality and relevance suggests that French
corporations have not yet adequately integrated the challenges of
climate change and the necessary improvements in the standard of
their disclosures to investors. The response from some industries,
such as public utilities and energy, which are subject to strict
carbon constraints, was satisfactory. Conversely, the response
level for other industries -- including transportation, agri-food
and capital goods -- remains inadequate in light of the mounting
risks weighing on them. Still other industries appear to be more
pro-active, such as the automotive industry and IT/telecoms.
Diversity in how French corporations perceive the risks and
opportunities associated with climate change Awareness of the
impacts associated with climate change is apparently in the process
of becoming part of enterprise management. For example, 57% of the
companies solicited for information perceive the risks that climate
change poses for their business activity (higher production costs,
physical impacts on plant and equipment, failure to win bids or
poorly positioned products and services). In parallel, 65% of those
surveyed identified business development opportunities (the current
product or service mix corresponds to demand related to climate
change, the design and development of new products or services to
address constraints related to climate change, or financial
opportunities). A majority of those responding (63%) say they have
implemented a strategy and action plan for dealing with climate
change, and 37% of respondents have set quantitative targets for
reducing greenhouse gas emissions. A variety of resources are being
employed: process optimization, efforts involving the entire
product life cycle, and the rollout of flexibility mechanisms.
Raise and broaden awareness of climatic impacts It is important to
improve the reliability and clarity of disclosures to investors,
who still lack adequate information from companies on their climate
change related risks and opportunities. It is worth noting that
corporate disclosure on this issue is a relatively recent
phenomenon in France, and that the situation has been improving
since the NRE Act was passed in 2003 and the Quota directive in
2005. However, substantial progress can be made in the area of
disclosures to ensure that investors can make relevant analyses.
The results of the request for information from FT500 companies
confirm these conclusions. As the 86% response rate for companies
based in Europe suggests, they take the issues revolving around
climate change seriously. Conversely, the risks and opportunities
associated with the carbon constraint still do not really weigh on
investment decisions. They are taken into account for only 0.1% of
global invested assets. Future CDP requests for information from
companies in the SBF 120 and the FT500 in the years to come will
enable us to track progress in this area. AXA and ADEME: partnering
with CDP for the SBF 120 request for information AXA, an
institutional investor, a listed FT500 company and a participant in
previous requests for information from the CDP, considers that for
industries such as tourism, energy, transportation and insurance,
climate change is a risk of the same magnitude as the exchange or
interest rate risk. This is one of the reasons that AXA decided to
become a CDP partner in 2003 and why it has put its support behind
the SBF 120 initiative. For AXA, a global provider of Financial
Protection products and services, the information disclosed through
CDP can lead to enlightened decisions in the realm of climate
change and global warming. ADEME (Agence de l'Environnement et de
la Maitrise de l'Energie) is also backing the initiative to extend
the CDP information request to companies in the SBF 120 because it
supports the broader aim, which is gaining ground in France, of
business playing an active role in the fight against climate
change. This partnership is consistent with the agency's desire to
support businesses that seek to take climate change into account.
ADEME also makes available tools for measuring greenhouse gas
emissions, such as the Bilan Carbone (C) (the Carbon Scorecard),
and helps businesses roll out energy efficient and energy saving
policies and practices. For ADEME, the CDP reveals the emergence of
investor demand for disclosures on climate change. By enlarging the
scope of the survey to include companies in the SBF 120, new light
will be shed on awareness of the climate risk on the part of French
businesses. About the AXA Group AXA Group is a worldwide leader in
Financial Protection. AXA's operations are diverse geographically,
with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the
Asia/Pacific area. AXA had euro 1,091 billion in assets under
management as of June 30, 2006, and for full year 2005, AXA's IFRS
revenues totalled euro 72 billion. The AXA ordinary share is listed
and trades under the symbol AXA on the Paris Stock Exchange. The
AXA American Depository Share is also listed on the NYSE under the
ticker symbol AXA. AXA is included in the FTSE4GOOD and ASPI
Eurozone ethical indices. About ADEME ADEME (L'Agence de
l'Environnement et de la Maitrise de l'Energie) is a public agency
that is jointly administered by the French Ministries of Ecology
and Sustainable Development and of Industry and Research. It is
closely involved in the implementation of public policy in the area
of the environment, energy and sustainable development. ADEME also
makes its expertise and advisory capacity available to businesses,
local governments, public policymakers and individual citizens. It
helps them fund projects in five areas (waste management, soil
conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energies, air quality
and efforts to reduce noise pollution) and take steps toward
sustainable development. For more information, visit
http://www.ademe.fr/. About CDP The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
provides a secretariat for the world's largest institutional
investor collaboration on the business implications of climate
change. For four years running, the CDP has asked institutional
investors to collectively sign a single global request for
disclosure of information on greenhouse gas emissions and its
potential impacts on shareholder value. The CDP 4 information
request was signed by 225 institutional investors with assets of
more than $31.5 trillion. The first three CDP requests for
information were addressed to FT500 index of the world's 500
largest corporations as measured by market capitalization. In 2006,
the survey reached more than 2,000 companies when its geographic
scope (Germany, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Canada, the
United States, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom) and sectoral
coverage (electricity) were expanded. More than 900 companies
responded to this year's request for information. Their responses
and reports based on them are available on the CDP website
(http://www.cdproject.net/). ADEME Media Relations H & B
Communication Nadege Chapelin - Claudia Berthol +33 1 58 18 32 45 -
AXA Group Media Relations Armelle Vercken +33 1 40 75 46 42 -
DATASOURCE: AXA CONTACT: Nadege Chapelin - Claudia Berthol of ADEME
Media Relations, H & B Communication, +33-1-5818-3245, ; or
Armelle Vercken of AXA Group Media Relations, +33-1-4075-4642, Web
site: http://www.axa.com/
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