Carbon Disclosure Project CDP 2009 Small & Medium-sized Enterprises Information Request

Transcription

1 Carbon Disclosure Project 2009 Information Request April 2009 Carbon Disclosure Project CDP 2009 Small & Medium-sized Enterprises Information Request Please try to answer as many questions as possible. However, a partial response is more helpful to your customers than no response at all. Please note that the question numbers are not sequential as this is a shortened version of the request answered by larger businesses and many questions have been removed. This is the second information request issued by CDP on behalf of Supply Chain and Public Procurement Members. It will be sent to selected companies in April 2009 and the results of responses will be published in our reports. Please respond to the information request using our website for direct data entry via our Online Response System (ORS) at In early April 2009, instructions on how to access the ORS will be sent to you by . We encourage companies to respond to the information request in accordance with the CDP 2009 Reporting Guidance available at Where words or phrases are defined in the guidance, they are underlined (like this). Companies in all sectors are encouraged to answer all questions that are relevant to their business. As evidence of global warming increases and corporations enhance their knowledge and management of the implications for business, we consider all of the questions to be of potential significance.

2 Risks and Opportunities Climate change poses both risks and opportunities to many types of business. Companies may be faced with implementing changes to conform to government regulations related to climate change and energy use and this may involve extra costs. However, forthcoming regulations may present opportunities to companies because their goods and services are already in step with those requirements, which may give them an advantage over their competitors. Climate change brings changing weather patterns. For some companies, this will be a risk if, for example, their or their suppliers premises are at increased likelihood of flooding. Additionally physical changes may bring benefits depending on geographical location. For example, some farmers may experience longer growing seasons. Customer behaviour may also be modified as a result of climate change. As consumers become more environmentally aware, goods or services linked with high greenhouse gas emissions/energy use may become harder to sell while sales of low-emission/low-energy alternatives grow. Companies may have goods or services that can help people adapt to circumstances that have come about as a result of climate change, bringing them business opportunities. Please use the selection buttons to show which risks and opportunities apply to your business. In the text boxes that appear, describe the risks/opportunities, explain any actions your company has taken to manage/adapt to/exploit these and indicate the financial implications. See our guidance for other examples of risks and opportunities from climate change.

3 Risks and Opportunities 1. Regulatory Risks: 1.1. Is your company exposed to regulatory risks related to climate change i.e. is your company affected or likely to be affected by government regulations related to climate change? 2. Physical Risks: 2.1. Is your company exposed to physical risks from climate change e.g. extreme weather or trends, such as decreasing rainfall? 3. Other Risks: 3.1. Is your company exposed to other risks as a result of climate change e.g. reduced customer demand for products that may be linked with relatively high GHG emissions or energy use, or difficulty in sourcing materials or components due to climate changerelated scarcity? 4. Regulatory Opportunities: 4.1. Do regulatory requirements on climate change present opportunities for your company? For example, government regulations related to climate change may result in greater demand for your products. 5. Physical Opportunities: 5.1. Do physical changes resulting from climate change present opportunities for your company? For example, climate change may have led to a longer growing season. 6. Other Opportunities: 6.1. Does climate change present other opportunities for your company e.g. increased customer demand for products that help them cope with the effects of climate change? Where the answer to any of the questions in the risks and opportunities section (see left hand column) is yes, please provide the following information if relevant: Describe the company s process for identifying risks/opportunities and assessing the degree to which they could affect the business, including the financial implications. Describe current and/or anticipated risks/opportunities. Explain the way in which the risks/opportunities could affect your business and your value chain, including the financial implications. What geographical areas are affected by the risks/opportunities you have identified. Outline the timescales over which the risks/opportunities are expected to materialise. Explain any actions the company has taken or plans to take to manage, adapt to and/or exploit the risks/opportunities that have been identified including the financial implications of those actions. Comment on whether your views on risks/opportunities have changed in the past twelve months. Where the answer to any of the questions is no, please: Explain why you do not consider your company to be exposed to risks/presented with opportunities. Explain the company process for identifying risks/opportunities and assessing the degree to which they could affect the business. Comment on whether your views have changed in the past twelve months.

4 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Accounting, Emissions Intensity, Energy and Trading CDP follows a method of reporting emissions known as the GHG Protocol.* This divides emissions into three scopes. Scope 1 GHG emissions are direct emissions from GHG sources owned or controlled by the reporting company. They fall within the company s reporting boundary. Examples may include: Combustion facilities - boilers, furnaces, turbines, heaters, incinerators, engines. Combustion of fuels in transportation - cars, buses, planes, ships, barges, trains. Physical or chemical processes e.g. in cement manufacturing. The key factor is that your company owns or controls the emission sources. Scope 2 GHG emissions are caused by a company s consumption of electricity, heat, steam or cooling brought in for use by assets or activities within its reporting boundary. The emissions do not occur at sources that are owned or controlled by the reporting company and are therefore termed indirect emissions. This category is often called purchased electricity because it represents the most common source of Scope 2 emissions. Scope 3 GHG emissions are a company s indirect emissions other than those covered in Scope 2. They are from sources that are not owned or controlled by the company, but which occur as a result of its activities. Scope 3 is a very wide category. It includes emissions associated with the extraction and production of materials that you have bought, employee business travel in vehicles that you don t own or control, emissions associated with the use of your goods as well as other emission sources. Carbon dioxide emissions from burning biomass/biofuels should be reported separately from emissions in the three scopes. If relevant, please report these emissions in question 15. However, please do include any nitrous oxide or methane emissions from biomass/biofuel combustion in your emissions under the three scopes. For more information, see footnote. 1 The aim of categorising emissions by scopes is to ensure, as far as possible, that doublecounting of emissions is minimized or, where it cannot be avoided, it is identifiable. * The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition) developed by the World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. It can be found at 1 Carbon dioxide emitted when biomass (defined as a renewable energy source by the GHG Protocol) is combusted should be reported separately from the scopes (see Question 15). This is because the carbon dioxide would have been emitted anyway when the plants - from which the biomass is derived - decayed naturally at the end of their life. However, two other GHGs nitrous oxide and methane are commonly emitted when biomass is combusted. These would not be emitted during natural decay and any nitrous oxide or methane emissions from biomass/bio fuel consumption should therefore be included in your emissions under the three scopes.

5 7. Reporting Year: Before we ask you to give emission figures, we need to establish the time period that they cover and areas of your business for which you are supplying data State the start date (date, month and year) and the end date (date, month, year) of the year for which you are supplying data. 8. Reporting Boundary: 8.1. Please indicate the category that describes the business operations for which you will be reporting Scope 1 and Scope 2 data. If you wholly own all of your operations, please choose the first selection button below. If you do not, please read the four options for reporting boundaries and select one of them. If your company has a complicated structure, please read chapter 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. It will outline the circumstances in which you should not report all of the emissions from an operation (e.g. when you have chosen the equity share reporting boundary, but don t hold 100% of the equity in the operation). Operations over which financial control is exercised per consolidated audited financial statements. Explanation: A company has financial control over an operation if the company has the ability to direct the financial and operating policies of the operation with a view to gaining economic benefits from its activities. Operations over which operational control is exercised. Explanation: A company has operational control over an operation if the company or one of its subsidiaries has full authority to introduce and implement its operating policies at the operation. Operations in which equity share is held. Explanation: A company accounts for GHG emissions from operations according to its share of equity in the operation. The equity share reflects economic interest, which is the extent of rights a company has to the risks and rewards flowing from an operation. Other (please provide details). 9. Methodology: 9.1. Please describe the method used by your company to calculate Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions. Explain your process for collecting the activity data, i.e. the amounts of the different fuels consumed, electricity use figures, etc, that you need in order to calculate your Scope 1 and 2 emissions. If you have not been able to collect activity data for all your sources of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, please list those that are excluded. If you have followed a published procedure for collecting data, please name it e.g. the GHG Protocol, ISO Describe your calculations The names of and links to any calculation tools used.

6 When providing answers to questions 10, 11 and 13, for clarity, please do not deduct offset credits, Renewable Energy Certificates etc, or net off any emissions that you estimate that your goods or services enable others to avoid (for example, an insulation company might consider that the installation of its insulation in another organisation s premises might reduce the consumption of gas to heat the building with the consequential reduction of GHG emissions from the property). If you purchase offsets, please give details of your purchases in the Further information section at the end of each webpage. Details of renewable energy certificates that you have retired can be given in answer to question Estimates of emissions avoided through third party use of your goods and services can be given in answer to question We ask for emissions data in metric tonnes of CO2-e: CO2-e stands for carbon dioxide equivalent. This is the universal unit of measurement used to indicate the global warming potential (GWP) of a GHG, expressed in terms of the global warming potential of one unit of carbon dioxide. A metric tonne of CO2-e means one metric tonne of carbon dioxide or an amount of any of the other GHGs with an equivalent global warming potential. 10. Scope 1 Emissions: 10.1.For those operations within the boundary that you gave in 8.1., please give your total gross Scope 1 GHG emissions in metric tonnes of CO2-e If you have not provided a Scope 1 emissions figure, please explain your reasons and describe any plans you have for collecting Scope 1 GHG emissions information in future. 11. Scope 2 Emissions: Scope 2 emissions are GHG emissions that the organisation has indirectly caused through its consumption of electricity, heat, cooling or steam generated by another organisation outside its reporting boundary. Most companies buy electricity from the grid. In that case, we ask you to use the grid average emission factor to calculate emissions linked with your electricity use. If you buy electricity under a zero or low carbon tariff (often called a green tariff ), this still applies, except in a very limited range of circumstances (see footnote 2 ) For those operations within the boundary you gave in 8.1., please give total gross Scope 2 GHG emissions in metric tonnes of CO2-e If you have not provided a Scope 2 emissions figure, please explain your reasons and describe any plans you have for collecting Scope 2 GHG emissions information in future. 2 The emissions factor you should use for calculating Scope 2 emissions depends upon whether the electricity you purchase is counted in calculating the grid average emissions factor or not see below. You can find this out from your supplier. Electricity that IS counted in calculating the grid average emissions factor: Where electricity is sourced from the grid and that electricity has been counted in calculating the grid average emissions factor, Scope 2 emissions must be calculated using the grid average emissions factor, even if your company purchases electricity under a zero or low carbon electricity tariff. Electricity that is NOT counted in calculating the grid average emissions factor: Where zero or low carbon electricity is sourced from the grid or otherwise transmitted to the company and that electricity is not counted in calculating the grid average, the emissions factor specific to that method of generation can be used, provided that any certificates quantifying GHG-related environmental benefits claimed for the electricity are not sold or passed on separately from the electricity purchased.

7 12. Contractual Arrangements: If you buy electricity using a zero or low carbon electricity tariff and wish to give details, please do so If you retire any certificates (eg: Renewable Energy Certificates) associated with zero or low carbon electricity, please provide details. 13. Scope 3 Emissions: Scope 2 covers emissions that a company has indirectly caused to be emitted through its consumption of - usually purchased - electricity, heat, cooling and steam. Scope 3 covers all other indirect emissions from sources that are not owned or controlled by a company, but which occur as a result of its activities. It includes emissions associated with the extraction and production of materials that you have bought, employee business travel in vehicles that you do not own or control and emissions associated with the use of your goods and services. For each of the following categories, please: Describe the main sources of emissions. Report emissions in metric tonnes of CO2-e. State the procedure you have used for gathering data and performing your calculations (identifying any calculation tools used) Employee business travel External distribution/logistics Use/disposal of company s products and services Company supply chain Other (if applicable) If you have not provided information about one or more of the categories of Scope 3 GHG emissions in response to the questions above, please explain your reasons and describe any plans you have for collecting Scope 3 indirect emissions information in future. 14. Emissions Avoided Through Use of Goods and Services: If your goods and/or services enable GHG emissions to be avoided by a third party, please provide details including the estimated avoided emissions, the anticipated timescale over which the emissions are avoided and the methodology, assumptions, emission factors (including sources), and global warming potentials (including sources) used for your estimations. 15. CO 2 emissions from biologically sequestered carbon: Please provide your total carbon dioxide emissions in metric tonnes CO 2 from the combustion of biologically sequestered carbon (e.g. carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of biomass/biofuels).

8 16. Emissions Intensity: Whereas total emissions refers to the actual amount of GHGs produced by an organisation, emissions intensity means the ratio of GHGs produced to a financial measure (e.g. turnover or profit), or to a measure of activity (e.g. per metric tonne or unit of output). Therefore: GHG intensity = GHG emissions Output (financial or activity-related) Emission intensity figures can give your customer an approximate idea of how many of your emissions are linked to their purchases from you. They may also give an indication of how your emissions performance is changing over time. We suggest that you present your emissions as a ratio of your turnover (also known as sales). Scope 1* + Scope 2** emissions = Result to be reported in response to Turnover * Scope 1 emissions should be taken from your answer to Question **Scope 2 emissions should be taken from your answer to Question Please divide your combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions in metric tonnes of CO2-e for the reporting year by your turnover in the currency of your choice Give the units e.g. per Euro or per million Yen The resulting figure. Please select the activity-related measurement that best reflects the activities of your business. For a service sector company, this might be emissions per full-time employee, per job completed or per gigabyte of data transmitted for IT companies. A manufacturing company might give GHG emissions per tonne of output or unit of production (e.g. per square centimetre of semiconductor wafer produced or per litre of shampoo or beverage) Please supply an activity related intensity measurement for the reporting year for your combined Scope 1 and 2 emissions, including a description of the measurement Give the units e.g. metric tonnes of CO 2 -e per metric tonne of output or for service sector businesses per unit of service provided The resulting figure.

9 Performance 23. Reduction Plans Does your company have a GHG emissions and/or energy reduction plan in place? If not: Please explain why Do you have an emissions and/or energy reduction target(s)? What is the baseline year for the target(s)? What is the emissions and/or energy reduction target(s)? What are the sources or activities to which the target(s) applies? Over what period/timescale does the target(s) extend? What activities are you undertaking or planning to undertake to reduce your emissions/energy use? What emissions reductions, energy savings and associated cost savings have been achieved to date as a result of the plan and/or activities described above? Please explain how you calculated your figures How do you expect your company s future Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions to change in the next five years? How do you expect your company s energy use to change in the next five years? Governance 25.2 Please explain how climate change and energy use is managed within your company If you publish any information e.g. media releases or website information on what you are doing on climate change/energy use, please give details.

10 Supplier Module SM 1. Ability to Split Scope 1 and 2 Emissions by Business Category The aim of these questions is to help your customers estimate the extent to which your Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are linked with their purchases of services or goods from you. Please note that we use the term product to cover both goods and services. SM 1.1. Are you able to break down your total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by the following categories: Business division Business unit Factory Product group Other Please give details in each case. SM 1.2 Using your preferred method (above) for splitting emissions, please consider what are the five biggest emitting categories (e.g. business units or product groups) for your company? For each of the five biggest emitting categories, plus any other categories specified by your customer(s), please complete the table SM1.2. The sample table below gives example answers for different types of businesses. If your customer knows that it procures approximately half of the goods you produce by weight and you produce a fairly uniform set of goods, they can then estimate that half your manufacturing emissions are attributable to their purchase from you. For a service sector company, if your customer knows that they have had 100 days work from you (i.e. accountancy services or plumbing or electrical work), they will be able to estimate the emissions associated with that if they know the emissions from that business division and the number of full-time employees. Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Category e.g. business division, unit, factory, product group. Auditing department Shampoo manufacture Total emissions Quantity Total emissions Units e.g. metric tonnes CO 2 -e 37 Metric tonnes CO 2 -e 1000 Metric tonnes CO 2 -e Distribution 2300 Metric tonnes CO 2 -e Do these represent emissions from Scope 1 only, Scope 2 only or both? Output Units Major emission sources Both 6 Full-time equivalent staff Both 1000 Kilolitres of product Both Metric tonnes of goods transported Electricity for IT, air conditioning, lighting; natural gas for space & water heating; business travel. Electricity & natural gas for manufacturing process. Diesel for transportation; electricity in warehousing

11 SM 1.2 Please complete this table. Use the figure given in answer to question as the basis for your Scope 2 emissions. Category e.g. business division, unit, factory, product group. Total emissions Quantity Total emissions Units e.g. metric tonnes CO 2 -e Do these represent emissions from Scope 1 only, Scope 2 only or both? Output Units Major emission sources Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Other Total SM 1.3. Please explain how you have identified the GHG sources listed above, including major limitations to this process and assumptions made. Describe your system for allocating emissions to the groups in the table. Where published information has been used, please provide a reference(s). Give the degree of confidence that you have in the figures expressed as a percentage, e.g. you estimate that they are accurate to +/- 15%. If the allocation of emissions to different categories has been externally verified, please give details. SM 1.4. What are the challenges in allocating emissions to different business categories and what would help you to overcome these challenges? Please describe whether and how you plan to develop your capabilities to allocate your emissions in the future. SM 2. Your engagement with your suppliers Your customers want to engage with you to learn more about the emissions from their immediate suppliers. The purpose of this section is to find out what you in turn are doing to engage with your own suppliers. SM 2.1. Do you have a strategy for engaging with your suppliers on their GHG emissions and the impacts of climate change on their business? If so, please provide details of this strategy. To give a sense of the scale of this engagement, please include the number of suppliers with whom you are engaging and the proportion of your total spending that they represent. If you do not have a strategy, please explain any plans you have to develop one in the future.

12 SM 2.2. If you have data on your suppliers GHG emissions and climate change strategies, please explain how you make use of that data (for example: identifying major GHG sources to prioritise emissions reduction actions, identifying physical risks in the supply chain, stimulating innovation, etc). SM 3. Emissions over the lifecycle of goods and services SM 3.1. Please list any major successes and/or planned activities to reduce GHG emissions in the lifecycle of groups of products or individual products, including an estimate of the possible reductions for each initiative. SM 3.2. Do you offer customers information or steps they can take to reduce the GHG emissions associated with use of your products, and - in the case of goods - with their disposal? Please give examples. Some suppliers may have customers who request that they provide estimates of GHG emissions over a particular product s lifecycle. Others may have estimated this information for their own purposes and wish to publicise it. If you fall into either group, please answer the following question and complete the table SM 3.4. SM 3.3. Please give details of the method that you have used to estimate lifecycle emissions. State if you have followed a published procedure (e.g. ISO & or PAS 2050) or one that you have developed yourself. Clearly define the good or service for which data is being given and the boundary of your assessment. Please make it clear which GHGs and GHG sources are included in your assessment. If relevant GHGs and GHG sources are excluded, please describe them and give reasons for omissions. Give references to data sources used. SM 3.4. Emissions over the lifecycle of goods and services Lifecycle emissions table for a particular good or service Name of good/service Description of good/service Customer name Lifecycle stage Please enter lifecycle stage Please add rows as necessary Emissions total Emissions (kg CO 2 -e) per unit at the lifecycle stage An example of the lifecycle stages of a service might be - in the case of a hotel stay - check in, use of room, check out, cleaning.

13 Important Information about Carbon Disclosure Project This is the second time the Carbon Disclosure Project has made an information request on behalf of Supply Chain & Public Procurement members. Your company may be receiving this for the first time because in 2009 we have expanded further the number of companies receiving the questionnaire. To find out more about the previous responses from other companies, please refer to our website at where you can also find full details on the background and structure of CDP. Why is this request from a group of customers to a group of companies rather than from an individual customer to an individual company? (a) To facilitate ease of reporting for suppliers by providing for one response to be delivered to numerous customers. (b) To receive data in a common format from suppliers What are the financial implications of responding? CDP has charitable status and seeks to use its limited funds effectively. As such, responses must be prepared and submitted at the expense of responding companies. CDP also reserves the right, where it deems it appropriate in view of its charitable aims and objectives, to charge for access to or use of data and/or reports it publishes or commissions. What is the basis of participation and what will happen to the data received? Companies responding to CDP 2009 make no claim of ownership in the data they submit and agree that CDP has an irrevocable licence to use and copy the responses and their contents without restriction and to authorise others to do the same. Companies responding to CDP 2009 agree that CDP is free to make use of the data including as described below and, with respect to public responses, otherwise without restriction whatsoever, in furtherance of its charitable mission. Companies also agree that CDP will own the database in which that data is stored, as well as the contents of that database. Companies agree that their response will not be eligible for assessment by report writers unless it is submitted in the format prescribed by CDP. For public responses Companies agree that a public response to CDP 2009 will be used by CDP in furtherance of its charitable mission and that the response may be: 1. Made available as soon as it is received by CDP to its signatory investors, partners, appointed report writers and selected rating agencies, 2. Made publicly available at and stored and preserved on CDP s servers indefinitely thereafter, 3. Distributed through selected partners, 4. Compiled in the CDP Core database and made available through that database (for a fee or otherwise) for use by commercial and non-commercial organisations, 5. Amalgamated with information about the responding company from other public sources including rating agencies, registrars and financial information distributors, 6. Used as a best practice example in CDP literature and research, 7. Used individually or as part of aggregate results in CDP s annual reports and in any other research conducted or commissioned by CDP, 8. Used in any other way that accords with CDP s charitable mission.

14 For non-public responses Companies agree that a non-public response to CDP 2009 may be: 1. Made available as soon as it is received by CDP to requesting Supply Chain and/or Public Procurement members, signatory investors, partners and appointed report writers but not to any other parties, and 2. Used in production of aggregate statistics for CDP s annual reports. What if a company wishes to change or update a response? In order for responses and any revisions to be included in the annual report CDP will publish, they must be received by 31 July How can a company confirm its participation? On receipt of the ed request, please register via the URL provided. What is the legal status of CDP? The Carbon Disclosure Project is a UK Registered Charity no and a company limited by guarantee registered in England no In the US, the Carbon Disclosure Project is a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors with United States IRS 501(c)(3) charitable status. CDP aims to create a lasting relationship between shareholders and corporations regarding the implications for shareholder value and commercial operations presented by climate change. Its goal is to facilitate a dialogue, supported by quality information, from which a rational response to climate change will emerge. CDP provides a co-ordinating secretariat for many of the world s largest institutional investors. On their behalf CDP seeks information on the business risks and opportunities presented by climate change and greenhouse gas emissions data from the world s largest companies. Global Reporting Initiative The CDP secretariat works closely with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to ensure that this request and the GRI indicators are closely aligned and complementary.