WBA and CDP announce strategic partnership to future proof high carbon emitting sectors 

Today WBA and CDP, the non-profit global environmental disclosure platform announced their strategic partnership  to further decarbonise the economy and ensure a climate resilient future. A major decarbonisation and energy transformation is still needed to align with global efforts to prevent the worst impacts of climate change and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.

CDP and WBA will be looking at current and future action and impact to assess and compare performance of companies across high carbon-emitting industries  among others, oil and gas, electric utilities and automotive. Forward looking methodology developed by the Assessing Low Carbon Transition (ACT) initiative, set up by CDP and Ademe, will  encourage engagement from the companies themselves  and look at current plans, the action pathway and past and present performance to assess future alignment and action. “The Climate and Energy Benchmark” will rank companies against the energy and climate transformation required to meet the Paris Agreement, making companies more accountable for their present and future action.

Vicky Sins, Climate and Energy Benchmark Lead, said: “It is crucial that significant progress is demonstrated by companies between 2020 and 2030 to ensure the future energy and climate transformation the world needs to see now and into the future.  CDP is recognised as the leading global disclosure  platform and engage on climate action.  At the WBA we are all about identifying the keystone  companies who can  really shift the dial  to help meet the ultimate end goal – the Paris Agreement.  We are delighted  to be partnering with CDP to assess  what action these companies are taking now and how they are setting themselves up for the future transition.  This is an exciting partnership which we expect to drive further transparency and a race to the top in decarbonising the economy by focusing on the keystone companies in high emitting sectors such as automotive, utilities and oil and gas.”

The first rankings to be published by WBA and CDP later this year will look at the automotive sector. This will assess the top global automotive companies against their future transition to a low-carbon economy.   The ambition is that the  Climate and Energy Benchmark is a leading source of information and engagement tool for decision makers of relevant stakeholder groups (investors, politicians and policymakers, NGOs, consumers, the media and the companies themselves). The benchmarks will be free and publicly available.

Pedro Faria, Strategic Advisor, CDP said: “We are excited to be partnering with WBA on the Climate and Energy Benchmark to visualize progress of corporate climate action now and into the future. To achieve the Paris Agreement it is critical that significant progress is demonstrated by companies over the next decade. This is a race against the clock. It is significant that we will be starting our pilot with the auto sector as a high-emitter of carbon and the nexus of a number of sectors and manufacturing processes. Driving change in this sector could be significant to a low carbon future.”

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