The supply chain is definitely one of the top solutions a company uses to address the issue of climate change. However, as reported by CDP in its 2013-2014 CDP Supply Chain Program Research Initiative, reducing a supply chain’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions still remains to be a formidable challenge.
According to CDP, the risks brought about by climate change such as droughts, hurricanes and rising sea levels are easily becoming a threat to all major companies worldwide. As the risks of climate change increase exponentially, so does its potential to harm an organization’s business operations.
CDP has been working with companies, governments, policy makers and investors to mitigate climate change since the year 2000. By encouraging companies to join and be part of a system of sustainability data disclosure and transparency, CDP enables them to benchmark, measure and manage associated environmental risks. Consequently, this helps organizations improve their brand reputation, increase operational efficiency and lower their costs.
Sustainability and profitability go hand in hand. As companies measure their sustainability performance and manage their risks, the organization’s management team would then be empowered with the right information to put them in a better position to improve their sustainability, and ultimately their financial performance. While all tools, guidelines and methods needed for standardized sustainability reporting are provided by CDP to help organizations achieve transparency in their sustainability reports, there are companies out there that can help interpret and apply the guidance.
As requested by supply chain members, CDP’s supply chain program consistently gathers information from suppliers regarding climate- and water-related strategy and action. A roster of these companies includes the likes of Walmart, Unilever, The Coca-Cola Company and Cisco Systems. Data gathered from supply chain disclosures like this facilitate the planning and implementation of results-oriented action plans to help decrease potentially irreversible impacts to the environment.
In order to set reduction goals and improve performance, more than 3,000 organizations worldwide disclosed their GHG emissions and climate change strategies to CDP. In the 2013-2014 CDP Supply Chain Program Research Initiative, companies who responded to the CDP Supply Chain program improved both in their disclosure and performance scores.
Overall, the program average for performance band scores rose substantially from 2012 to 2013. Scoring also improved across all performance band categories; led by a 45% increase in the Strategy category, the results suggest a stronger emphasis over how supply chain companies are planning and implementing emission reduction initiatives across their own industry.
This year, CDP sent out its annual disclosure requests for companies all over the world in April 2014. Suppliers were requested to fill out and send their corresponding data input by July 31, 2014. As this deadline is only a month away, thousands of companies aroud the world are all finalizing their 2014 disclosures.
Scoring thousands of disclosures as the exclusive Scoring Partner for CDP’s Supply Chain Program since 2011, FirstCarbon Solutions (FCS) has unmatched expertise in the scoring and reporting methods of CDP. Applying this unique capability, FCS is able to effectively assist participants to improve their sustainability performance.
As CDP’s Gold Consultancy Partner and Silver Software Partner, FCS has the proven consulting capabilities to help you develop and implement a comprehensive carbon and climate change strategy. For more information or to request consultation, contact FCS today.
