Asset managers request climate disclosure from 10,000 companies

Amundi, Axa and Vanguard are among more than 680 financial institutions with a total of about $130 trillion in assets that are asking companies to disclose data on their environmental impact.

In a letter to nearly 10,400 companies globally, the group has asked for disclosure on climate change, deforestation and water security through CDP’s disclosure system, which is sector-specific and aligned with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Questions on biodiversity impacts are being asked for the first time, the CDP said, and in the future, the scope will expand to cover issues ranging from land and oceans to waste and food.

Almost 100 more financial institutions have joined the call since last year, demonstrating the growing demand for transparency from companies.

“We need this comparable, consistent and clear data for our investment decision making, our research, our product development, our corporate engagement and our regulatory compliance,” said Jean-Jacques Barbéris, head of institutional and corporate clients coverage and ESG supervisor at Amundi.

Last year, nearly 3,200 companies out of 7,176 requested disclosed their environmental information in response to CDP’s letter to the board. This is in addition to more than 10,100 other companies that disclosed through CDP, meaning more than 13,000 companies representing some 64% of global market capitalization disclosed their data through CDP in 2021.

But nearly 4,000 companies — including Berkshire Hathaway, Chevron, Exxon Mobil and Glencore — failed to respond to the request for disclosure from financial institutions in 2021.

This year, an additional 3,300 companies are being asked to disclose for the first time.

“While many companies are disclosing, setting targets and taking action across their own business operations and value chains, there is a surprisingly large part of the market still to take the vital first step of disclosure," said Paul Simpson, CEO of CDP. "These companies are becoming increasingly out of touch with reality, investor and public opinion, not just because of the regulatory stick that is approaching, but also because there are so many proven benefits to transparency. We hope that this request, backed by such an influential group of financial institutions worldwide, will hit home and drive transparency and action even further.”

CDP’s online disclosure platform for companies will be open beginning in mid-April.

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