Key Findings

• Response rates for the FTSE 100 were very high, and the best of all the samples in CDP4. 83% answered the questionnaire and 55% provided quantified emissions data. 24% provided emissions data that satisfied Scope 1 of the GHG Protocol, as recommended by the CDP questionnaire.
• Only 36% of FTSE 250 companies answered the questionnaire. This is largely indicative of the fact that CDP4 is the first occasion that these companies have been surveyed. 16% provided quantified emissions data. 5% provided emissions data that satisfied Scope 1 of the GHG Protocol.
• 49% of FTSE 350 companies overall answered the CDP4 questionnaire. 27% provided quantified emissions data. 10% provided emissions data that satisfied Scope 1 of the GHG Protocol.
• CDP has a cumulative positive effect on disclosure. Although less pronounced than in other CDP4 samples analysed by Trucost, the high response rate of FTSE 100 companies that have been sent previous iterations of the CDP4 demonstrates that the CDP has a cumulative positive effect over time. 
• FTSE 350 response rates were only slightly better than the average for all the 2100 companies included in the CDP4 (49% compared to around 47%). The expanded universe includes companies in emerging economies and in regions where regulatory controls on carbon emissions are very weak or non-existent.
• Companies that are in more carbon-intensive industries are not more likely to report than companies from less intensive sectors. However, they are more likely to provide quantitative emissions data.  
• Larger companies are significantly more likely to report. There was a strong correlation between the size of the company, as measured by market capitalisation, and whether they answered the questionnaire.
• Confidential CDP responses outnumber publishable responses. Of the FTSE 350 companies that responded to the CDP4 more explicitly asked for the information to be kept confidential (48) than explicitly authorised its publication (45)

Why did CDP commission the report?

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has two key aims: to inform investors regarding the significant risks and opportunities presented by climate change, and secondly: to inform company management regarding the serious concerns of their shareholders regarding the impact of these issues on company value. As disclosure increasingly becomes the norm, which this study confirms with respect to FTSE100 companies, focus will inevitably shift to the adequacy and usefulness of those disclosures. Therefore investors will need more information of better quality if they are to factor carbon issues into mainstream investment management and decision-making.

Report image: Quantified responses and emissions reported

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