LATEST NEWS

NORWEGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, JONAS GAHR STØRE, ACCEPTS A COPY OF THE EIO'S LATEST PUBLICATION

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre accepts a copy of the EIO's latest publication, Environmental Tracking 3.0, after speaking at the London School of Economics on Wednesday 30th November. Harini Manivannan (right) and Antonia Weitzer (left), both Senior Carbon Analysts at the EIO, spoke to Minister Støre and Minister Olav Myklebust, Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy in London about the EIO's work. They briefed both Ministers in advance of a letter sent to Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister Erik Solheim, Norwegian Environment Minister, Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen, Norwegian Finance Minister and Mr Yngve Slyngstad, Chief Executive of Norges Bank, which marks the opening of a dialogue between the EIO and the Norwegian government about the Environmental Tracking mechanism.

UPDATE ON 2011 ET CARBON RANKINGS

Following the publication of the 2011 ET Carbon Rankings on 1st November, companies were given the right to appeal against any incorrect information. The EIO received a number of enquiries from companies listed in the Rankings, two of which were originally classified as Appeals. Following further discussion and explanation, both Appeals were withdrawn. The EIO is therefore pleased to announce that the 2011 ET Carbon Rankings stand as originally published.

ET GLOBAL CARBON RANKINGS RELEASED
&
SCOPE 3 DISCLOSURE LEADERS ANNOUNCED

The Environmental Investment Organisation (EIO), a UK based NGO supported by a global research network, has developed its Environmental Tracking (ET) concept into a Ranking of the world’s largest 1,300 companies by Carbon Emissions in the countdown to Durban.

The EIO aims to persuade more companies to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and report comprehensive Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions data, through the launch of a series of ET Global and Regional Carbon Rankings.

Key Findings for the ET Global 800 Carbon Ranking:

• German based BASF, tops the complete and verified category as the only company worldwide to disclose all 15 Scope 3 Categories, according to the new GHG Protocol Scope 3 Reporting Standard, with a combined Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions intensity of 1,077.70 tCO2e/$M turnover.
• US based FirstEnergy comes last, with no public data and an inferred combined Scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions intensity of 10,287.39 tCO2e/$M turnover.
• 55% of companies in the ET Global 800 report incomplete data or no data at all, indicating the scale of the GHG reporting challenge.

The ET North America 300, ET Asia Pacific 300, ET BRICS 300, as well as the updated ET Europe 300, have been designed to put the spotlight on standards of public GHG emissions reporting across the world. The top and bottom spots for each of the regional rankings, as well as the in depth reports, can be viewed here.

Sam Gill, Operational Director at the EIO, explains, "Scope 3 emissions have been the ‘elephant in the room’ for a long time now, and this has been something that the EIO has been keen to include in its Rankings from the outset. Take, for example, a bank which might have extremely low operational emissions, mainly coming from the use of electricity (covered by Scope 2). Their real impact and influence lies beyond their operational boundary in their investment and lending activities. To not include this does not paint an accurate picture of the state of a company’s GHG emissions across the entire value chain."

2011 ET Scope 3 Disclosure Leaders Award winners

The following companies are establishing themselves as leaders in the field of Scope 3 disclosure, with each reporting 5 or more categories (out of a maximum of 15 according to the New GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard) and earning themselves top spots in the ET Global Carbon Rankings as a result.

15 Categories:

•  BASF, Germany - ET Europe 300 (1); ET Global 800 (1)

8 Categories:

•  Anglo American, UK - ET Europe 300 (2); ET Global 800 (2)
•  Gold Fields, South Africa - ET BRICS 300 (1); ET Global 800 (3)
•  Kirin Holdings, Japan - ET Asia-Pacific 300 (39); ET Global 800 (169)

7 Categories:

•  Alcatel-Lucent, France - ET Europe 300 (3); ET Global 800 (4)

6 Categories:

•  Santander Brazil, Brazil - ET BRICS 300 (2); ET Global 800 (5)
•  Baxter International, US - ET North America 300 (1); ET Global 800 (6)
•  Vale, Brazil - ET BRICS 300 (3); ET Global 800 (7)
•  Massmart, South Africa - ET BRICS 300 (34)
•  Kone, Finland - ET Europe 300 (127); ET Global 800 Rank (170)

5 Categories:

•  Westpac Banking, Australia - ET Asia-Pacific 300 (1); ET Global 800 (8)
•  Commerzbank, Germany - ET Europe 300 (4); ET Global 800 (9)
•  National Australia Bank Australia - ET Asia-Pacific 300 (2); ET Global 800 (10)
•  UPS, US - ET North America 300 (2); ET Global 800 (11)
•  Xstrata, UK - ET Europe 300 (5); ET Global 800 (12)
•  Praxair, US - ET North America 300 (3); ET Global 800 (13)
•  Transurban Group, Australia - ET Asia-Pacific 300 (3)
•  Itau Unibanco, Brazil - ET BRICS 300 (4)
•  CESP, Brazil - ET BRICS 300 (35)
•  Intuit, US - ET North America 300 (29); ET Global 800 (171)
•  Google, US - ET North America 300 (30); ET Global 800 (172)

Asked about the EIO and how it operates, 20 year old Katherine Belben, the NGO’s Communications Coordinator, explained, "The EIO is the product of the current environmental and political climate. On the one hand we face impending environmental catastrophe which requires immediate action; and on the other we have world governments who appear incapable of reaching unified consensus to address the problem. The EIO has galvanised the support of a generation of people who, as well as wanting to glean knowledge and experience in an area set to become the growth engine of the 21st century, are simply not going to stand back and watch as that happens."

Harini Manivannan, Senior Carbon Analyst at the EIO, states, "In the event of any company wishing to make new data publicly available during the Appeal Process, the full suite of Rankings will be restated during the COP17 climate negotiations in Durban". The EIO seeks to highlight that its market based initiative can run parallel to and independently of the international governmental climate negotiations.

"The required emissions reductions and investment in low carbon technologies can be achieved by creating a system which influences share price according to the environmental costs of a company’s actions. This is precisely what Environmental Tracking seeks to do," added Sam Gill.

By pioneering an open source approach to collaborative working the EIO has made it easy for those eager to be part of the climate solution to contribute, hold the world’s biggest companies to account, and, implement a powerful mechanism.

Please visit our Press Section for a full list of Press Releases and coverage of the EIO's work in the news...

For all media enquiries, please email media@eio.org.uk or call +44 (0)208 801 0570.

About the EIO

The EIO is an independent not-for-profit body which researches, promotes and implements investment systems designed to incentivise global corporate emissions reduction.

The main body of the EIO's work centers around the Environmental Tracking concept. This was originally outlined in the forward thinking book entitled Environmental Tracking, first published in 1997. An updated version of the book has been released to coincide with the launch of the ET Global 800 Carbon Ranking.

Please visit our About Section to read more...

About the Environmental Tracking (ET) Concept

Environmental Tracking (ET) is a market mechanism designed to incentivise the world's largest companies to reduce their emissions and improve their levels of transparency.

It is manifested through the following key components:

• ET Carbon Rankings: designed to create public pressure through the "spotlight effect".
• ET Index Series: designed to create share price incentive through supply and demand pressure.
• ET Engagement: consolidating the ET Carbon Rankings by engaging with companies to improve standards of disclosure and lower emissions. Funds following the ET Index Series also provide the opportunity for asset owners to engage directly with the companies in which they are shareholders in order to promote better CSR policies.

For further information on the EIO's Environmental Tracking concept, please see the 3 minute video below or visit the Information Centre.