Study: Carbon Plans By Supply Chain Companies Leave Much To Be Desired

A recent annual survey into the carbon reduction efforts by suppliers has revealed that business leaders dread the potential impact of emissions legislation on their activities.

The survey, carried out by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a transatlantic not for profit organization, covered responses of 144 supply companies to multinational corporations.

Only 26% of the suppliers have actual plans in place to achieve greenhouse gas reductions. But more than double that number (58%) was tracking their emissions. Around 33% of all the surveyed suppliers has a dedicated board member in place dealing with climate change issues.

Nevertheless almost all company bosses (96%) cited emisssions legislation as a major risk. The CDP survey focused on finding out what progress companies are making toward reducing their carbon footprint. The report underscored that business leaders in the supply chain area are most serious about measuring greenhouse gas emissions, which is an important first step.

CDP sends a climate change questionnaire annually to the largest publicly listed companies globally on behalf of investors. Companies report their emissions data using the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol - which is the most widely used international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions. The organization represents 385 institutional investors with assets under management of $57 trillion.