New CDP call adresses $ 30 trillion

Investors with some $30 trillion of assets have written to 1,933 of the world's biggest companies demanding disclosure on their climate change stance, the UK-based Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) said on Wednesday.

The Carbon Disclosure Project is an initiative supported by some of the world's biggest institutional shareholders, with a constantly rising participation. Their motivation: Assess the financial risk associated with their company investments' GHG emissions. Therefore, each year, they request the companies in which they hold shares to disclose their carbon emissions related activities. This year, the group accounts for a record $ 30 trillion total investment sum, 50% more then last year's call. 1993 companies all over the world have been requested to fill in the questionnaire. The CDP's big question is: How prepared is a company for the effects of climate change and for hardening climate change policy?

Paul Dickinson, CDP project coordinator, explains: "There are business risks and opportunities (from climate change) that have implications for the value of investments in corporations worldwide."

See Reuters for the story and The Carbon Disclosure Project's Website for detailed information.