Expansion of CDP6
The CDP now represents over 385 institutional investors with over US$57 trillion in assets under management globally. The number of Australian and New Zealand investors supporting the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) increased this year by over 50% and now represent over $1 trillion in assets under management. On 1 February 2008, on behalf of these investors, CDP sent a questionnaire to over 3000 of the world's largest companies, seeking information on the business risks and opportunities presented by climate change and greenhouse gas emissions data. The Investor Group on Climate Change Australia/New Zealand (IGCC) has partnered with CDP to include the largest 200 Australian companies (ASX200) and largest 50 New Zealand companies (NZX50) in the CDP information request. A copy of the CDP questionnaire can be downloaded from the CDP website, which you can access by clicking
here.
Potential Earnings Impacts from Climate Change for Key Australian Sectors: Report Series Launch
The Investor Group on Climate Change in conjunction with Goldman Sachs JBWere, Merrill Lynch, Hastings Funds Management and Monash Sustainability Enterprises launched a series of Reports on the Potential Earnings Impacts from Climate Change for Key Australian Sectors on 30 November 2007.
The Reports describe the key climate change issues relevant to each sector and are designed to assist institutional investors, fund managers and analysts better understand climate change impacts for individual companies and assets. The Reports are available below:
Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Australia & New Zealand Report Launch
The Investor Group on Climate Change in conjunction with Goldman Sachs JBWere and The Climate Institute launched the CDP Australia & New Zealand Report in Melbourne during the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) Global Roundtable on Wednesday 24 October.
CDP5 Report Launch
The fifth Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP5) Report (
CDP5 Global Report 2007) was launched in New York on 24th September 2007.
To ensure that the risks and opportunities associated with climate change are incorporated into investment decisions the IGCC will undertake a number of activities. The activities will be driven by members and seek to deliver value to members and will focus on those areas that will assist IGCC achieve its aims to:
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Raise awareness of the potential impacts, both positive and negative, resulting from climate change to the investment industry, corporate, government and community sectors;
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Encourage best practices approaches to facilitate the inclusion of the impacts of climate change into investment analysis by the investment industry; and
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Provide information to help the investment industry to understand and incorporate climate change into the investment decision.
Guide for Superannuation Trustee Management & Board
A Climate for Change, a joint paper between the IGCC and The Carbon Trust, UK has been released. A Climate for Change is a guide to assist superannuation trustees and management to understand and address the impact of climate change on their members' retirement savings.
The guide was first prepared for The Carbon Trust and the UK Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change by Mercer Investment Consulting. The Carbon Trust generously made the guide available to the IGCC for adaptation to the local market. The adaptation was undertaken by Mercer Investment Consulting and IGCC members.
Mercer's Head of Global Strategic Research, Mr Garrie Lette, says that fund trustees had a fiduciary duty to understand and manage the impact of climate change. "It is vital that super fund trustees incorporate climate change risks into their investment decisions as these risks have the potential to impact the value of investments across asset classes".