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), 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.