Pictured are Jim Barry, chairman of NTR Foundation, and Dick Budden, Ireland director of CDP.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the not-for-profit organisation that gathers data on how companies act to prevent dangerous climate change, is issuing a final call to Irish businesses to participate in this year’s project. The deadline for entries is Tuesday, 31st May 2011.

The Project, principally sponsored in Ireland by the NTR Foundation and supported by KPMG, acts on behalf of large international investors and invites Irish companies to measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies, encouraging them to set reduction targets and make performance improvements.

Dick Budden, Ireland Director of CDP, has called on Irish businesses to participate: “Investors want smarter, more efficient, more sustainable organisations. Consumers are also looking for more sustainable suppliers. CDP has become the established and accepted global standard for examining the possible impacts on business of the many factors connected with climate change. Last year more than 3,000 companies around the world responded to the CDP request, recognising that carbon management has a strategic role to play in reducing energy costs, generating revenue and remaining competitive. The deadline for entries for Ireland is 31st May 2011 and we look forward to welcoming more Irish firms to the Carbon Disclosure Project this year,” he said.

Chairman of the NTR Foundation, Jim Barry said: “The adverse impacts of climate change will be global and the risks are too big to ignore. But it is also increasingly evident that ‘green’ practices actually contribute to the bottom line and more and more companies are taking this on board. It therefore makes sound business sense, even in today’s global recession, to participate in CDP and demonstrate that your organisation is also assessing the challenges and opportunities of sustainable business practices.”

The CDP Questionnaire examines climate change practices; emissions reduction targets; climate change risks and opportunities; emissions data; zero or low carbon strategies.

The Questionnaire is circulated to 40 of the largest companies in Ireland listed on the Irish Stock Exchange; large organisations involved in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, including the major utility companies such as Bord na Mona and ESB; and other companies that volunteer to take part.

In Ireland, 33 Irish companies participated in 2010 and it is anticipated that this number will increase in 2011.

Questionnaires must be completed by Tuesday, 31st May 2011 and the Carbon Disclosure Project Ireland 2011 Report will be published later in the year.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the not-for-profit organisation that gathers data on how companies act to prevent dangerous climate change, has launched its 2011 Questionnaire in Ireland. The Project, principally sponsored in Ireland by the NTR Foundation and supported by KPMG, acts on behalf of large investors and invites Irish companies to measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies, encouraging them to set reduction targets and make performance improvements.

“CDP has become the established and accepted global standard for examining the possible impacts on business of the many factors connected with climate change. Last year more than 3,000 companies around the world responded to the CDP request, recognising that carbon management has a strategic role to play in reducing energy costs, generating revenue and remaining competitive,” says Dick Budden, Ireland director of CDP.

The CDP Questionnaire examines climate change practices; emissions reduction targets; climate change risks and opportunities; emissions data; zero or low carbon strategies.

The Questionnaire is circulated to 40 of the largest companies in Ireland listed on the Irish Stock Exchange, large organisations involved in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme including the major utility companies such as Bord Gais and ESB, and other companies that volunteer to take part.

In Ireland 33 Irish companies participated in 2010 and it is anticipated that this number will increase in 2011. Questionnaires must be completed by the end of May 2011 and the Carbon Disclosure Project Ireland 2011 Report will be published later in the year.

“It is becoming increasingly evident that ‘green’ practices actually contribute to the bottom line and companies are taking this on board. Last year’s CDP found that 79% of respondents had a board committee or executive body responsible for climate change strategy. It therefore makes sound business sense to participate in CDP and demonstrate you also are assessing the challenges and opportunities of sustainable practices,” comments Jim Barry, chairman of the NTR Foundation and chief executive of NTR.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a not-for-profit organisation that gathers data on how companies act to prevent dangerous climate change, has launched the 2011 CDP Supply Chain Report, is produced by management consulting firm AT Kearney, which looks at climate change actions among 1,000 suppliers to 57 leading global companies, among them many with operations here in Ireland.

The Supply Chain Report found that businesses are now seeing a return on investment from embedding sustainable practices into the procurement function. More than 50% of the large businesses and 25% of their suppliers have seen direct cost savings as a result of their carbon management activities.

PepsiCo, for example, has uncovered more than $60 million in energy savings opportunities and a 16% reduction in per-unit energy use across its beverage plants, as a result of its carbon management strategy.

Richard Evens, president of PepsiCo UK and Ireland, says: “I think that successful businesses in the 21st Century will be those that decouple growth from increasing carbon emissions. PepsiCo is working with suppliers all over the world who are flexible and innovative and share our commitment to sustainable growth. The CDP Supply Chain Programme is helping us to turn that commitment into action by highlighting the importance of this agenda to our people, helping them to understand their own impact and to find how we can work together to deliver bigger carbon reductions.” Some of PepsiCo’s products for the UK and Irish markets are pictured.

Highlights from the 2011 CDP Supply Chain Report include:

* 86% of companies saw tangible commercial benefits from working closely with suppliers to improve performance and mutual return on investment, up from 46% in 2009

* 79% of CDP Supply Chain member businesses now employ a formal climate change strategy, up from 63% in 2009

* More than 50% of large businesses and 25% of their suppliers have seen cost savings as a result of carbon management activities

* 45% of businesses track and report supply chain emissions, more than double of that in 2009

* 72% of large businesses have their data verified externally.

“This report underlines the benefit companies can derive from measuring and tackling carbon emissions,” says Dick Budden, Ireland director of CDP. “Not only large corporations, but their suppliers too, can see the benefit to be derived from embedding climate change policies.”

Daniel Mahler, AT Kearney partner and study co-leader, remarks: “Forward-looking organisations are realising that the implementation of carbon emission reduction programmes deliver significant economic and strategic benefits for their organisations.”

Participating large companies with operations in Ireland include: Accenture, Dell, Endesa, Google, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Merck, PepsiCo, Unilever and Vodafone. CDP Ireland is principally supported by the NTR Foundation.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Ireland 2010 Report shows a significant increase in companies taking part. The report, principally sponsored by the NTR Foundation and prepared by KPMG, concludes that the number and quality of responses to the project shows climate change issues are now firmly established on Irish boardroom agendas.

“Businesses increasingly recognise that climate change, energy prices and energy security, and material scarcity need to be taken into account as part of their strategy, not so much because climate change and sustainability are a threat to them directly, but because there is actually an opportunity to improve their competitive edge and give them a better future,” says Yvo de Boer, KPMG special global advisor on climate change and sustainability, and former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, who was keynote speaker at the launch of the report. “Coming to grips with climate change, coming to grips with issues around energy prices, energy security and sustainability, is basically a matter of self-interest, though also, of course, for Irish people, a matter for global citizens, operating in a global market.”

Highlights from the 2010 CDP report for Ireland include:

* 33 Irish companies responded this year, compared with only 14 responses in the 2009 report.

* Among companies listed on the ISEQ, 20 (50%) of the largest 40 businesses participated in the project, up from 33% total responses last year.

* Ireland’s 50% response rate among the largest ISEQ companies is still some way behind the >80% response rate of the 300 largest companies across Europe, and a similar rate among the largest 500 globally.

* 79% of respondents have a dedicated Board or Executive Body with responsibility for governance on corporate environmental responsibility.

* More than 50% of ISEQ-listed companies and over 80% of other companies that responded, including the largest participants in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, see positive opportunities for their businesses arising from climate change.

As well as the responses of 20 out of the 40 largest listed on the ISEQ, the report covers responses from seven of the largest eleven Irish firms involved in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, seven other Irish companies, and 28 out of the 30 largest of Ireland’s inward investors.

In addition to the support of KPMG and of its principal sponsor the NTR Foundation, the work of CDP in Ireland is supported by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the EPA.

The NTR Foundation, the independent philanthropic organisation established by NTR plc, has been announced as the principal sponsor of the Carbon Disclosure Project, Ireland 2010. The annual project aims to collect and distribute high quality information that motivates investors, corporations and governments to take action to prevent dangerous climate change. This is the second year that Irish companies have been invited to participate in the project. The 2010 report, compiled by KPMG, will be launched by Eamon Ryan, TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on 19th October 2010 in Trinity College, Dublin.

A keynote speaker will be Yvo De Boer, KPMG Global Advisor and former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Since its launch in 2000, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has encouraged more than 3,000 companies in over 60 countries worldwide to participate in the CDP process, helping to raise awareness and create transparency around the management and reduction of carbon emissions. Through CDP, the businesses measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies, in order to set reduction targets and make performance improvements.