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Asian Corporates Provide A Wealth Of Climate Change Data for Investors

ASrIA Launch Carbon Disclosure Project 2009 Asia ex-Japan Report

HONG KONG (23 September 2009) – Asian ex-Japan companies have responded strongly to the carbon disclosure project this year, according the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) 2009, Asia ex-Japan Report which was launched today. The number of reporting companies has more than doubled to a total of 127, up from 61 last year and the quality and materiality of responses has continued to improve. Of particular note, a significantly wider range of operation data and metrics were provided this year and the responses provide a wide range of valuable information and insights for investors.

The Carbon Disclosure Project 2009, Asia ex-Japan Report, authored by the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia (ASrIA), was released at a well-attended launch event hosted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, at their offices in Hong Kong.  This was a year of consolidation for many of the veteran companies.  An increasing number of companies have set benchmarks and targets, are working with their operational data and exploring strategic initiatives.  The outstandingly strong response from the Information technology sector highlighted a key theme, which is the extent to which supply chain factors have driven engagement with climate change related issues by Asian companies.  David St. Maur Sheil, a Director of ASrIA and lead author of the report, noted that supply chain companies in the region increasingly have to respond to a range of cross-cutting issues, including regulatory developments, supply chain risks and green product and service opportunities, which together act as strong drivers to engage with climate change related issues.

The report is freely available on the ASrIA website at www.asria.org/publications  

For investors, four key themes emerged from ASrIA’s analysis of the 2009 responses:

From Mitigation to Adaptation - Companies Start to Move Beyond Regulatory Uncertainty and Focus on Opportunities
Regulatory uncertainty continues. However, as regulatory roadmaps are gradually put in place across the region, companies are switching their focus towards meeting higher standards beyond expected regulatory requirements, and saw this as an opportunity. The impacts of extreme weather are recognized within a wider spectrum of related risks, and opportunities are emerging from this. Companies are establishing a broader picture of the issues, how their industries may be affected and the risks and potential opportunities open to them.

More Substantive Disclosure of Emissions and Operational Data
Companies have started to publicly release a wider range of emissions and operational data, providing some real substance for investors to engage with. Baseline data and targets were established in previous years and has been helpful for companies who are well into a third or even fourth year of responding to the CDP process.

IT Sector leads on Responses and Data
With over a 70% response to the questionnaire and over 80% emission disclosure rates, the IT sector was well ahead of other sectors in overall response rates.

Korea Pushes Ahead, India Emerges Strongly
A 50% response rate by an enlarged Korean sample is a major story this year, and reflects ongoing co-ordinated initiatives by several major industry sectors. India is also emerging as a very strong reporter in the region. Taiwan continues to make valuable progress.

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About The Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia ( ASrIA )
ASrIA, the Association for Sustainable & Responsible Investment in Asia, is a not for profit membership association dedicated to promoting corporate responsibility and sustainable investment practice in the Asia Pacific region. ASrIA has taken a leadership role in promoting sustainable investment in Asia since our founding in 2001. ASrIA has run conferences, seminars and workshops, and published wide-ranging research on SRI issues. ASrIA has also created a very wide network of organizations and individuals interested in the broad range of policy issues and investment strategies which are essential to the implementation of SRI in Asia. ASrIA's website, www.asria.org, is the primary resource for SRI in Asia, attracting over 6600 page views per day and over 6,000 subscribers to our regular e-bulletin.

About Carbon Disclosure Project ( CDP )
The Carbon Disclosure Project, founded in 2000, represents some 475 global institutional investors, with more than US $55 trillion in assets under management. As an independent not-for-profit organization, CDP collects key climate change data from some 2,500 major corporations around the globe and has assembled the largest corporate greenhouse gas emissions database in the world. CDP also works with multinational organizations to facilitate the collection of climate change relevant data for their supply chain.