Hong Kong, September 20, 2006 - On an annual basis since 2003, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has, on behalf of an increasing number of institutional investors, requested disclosure on carbon risk and management from 500 of the largest global companies by market capitalisation. In doing so, CDP represents the largest ever collaboration of institutional investment capital - in 2006, 225 institutional investors with assets of over US$31 trillion signed the information request.

The aim of the CDP is two-fold.  Firstly, 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 the debate about strategies for addressing climate change matures, there is an urgent need to bring the role of Asia's fastest growing economies into clearer focus. Unfortunately, data gaps at both the country and corporate level are a critical constraint. In general, Asia's largest listed companies, excluding Japan, lag their global counterparts in reporting on a broad range of environmental, social, and governance risks. As a result, making progress on corporate disclosure of carbon emissions by Asia's corporate leaders is now a priority for global investors.

This year, CDP extended the information request to over 2000 companies, which included 125 of some of the largest companies in Asia, covering nine countries: China including Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. The CDP4 Asia ex-Japan report produced by the Association for Sustainable and Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA) presents the analysis and findings relevant to the responses of these Asian companies.  As a result, this year marks the first time that Asian investors have a representative sample of responses to evaluate on climate change fundamentals. This makes it possible to begin tracking important global sector comparisons and to assess different Asian country level trends.

The Carbon Disclosure Project Report – 2006 Asia ex-Japan will be launched by ASrIA on 19th September 2006. The report will be available free of charge from ASrIA's web site www.asria.org/publications#CDP. CDP reports covering other company samples – Australia, Brazil, Canada, Electric Utilities, FT500 (global), FTSE350 (UK), Germany, Japan and the S&P 500, can be downloaded from the CDP website:- www.cdproject.net/cdp4reports.asp, from 19th September 2006.  For comprehensive information on climate change and related sustainable finance issues, please see ASrIA Climate Change Portal http://www.asria.org/portal.

The Report was sponsored by the Sigrid Rausing Trust.

The Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA), is a not-for-profit membership association that has taken a leadership role in promoting sustainable investment in Asia since its founding in 2001. Visit the ASrIA website at www.asria.org.