Isra-Mart srl:Amlin takes title in UK carbon-intensity table

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Isra-Mart srl news:

Insurance firm Amlin has the best carbon emission record of the UK's top 100 companies, according to an innovative rankings system unveiled today at the BASE show in London.

Created by non-profit research body the Environmental Investment Organisation (EIO), the ET UK 100 ranks firms based on their carbon intensity, taking into account all direct emissions, known as scope 1 emissions, and indirect scope 2 emissions generated from buying electricity and then dividing the total carbon footprint by the company's turnover.

The resulting carbon intensity determines the firm's place in the top 100 listing, while companies that do not publicly disclose or independently verify their emissions data are marked down.

The EIO found that 66 per cent of the UK's top 100 firms make their carbon emissions data public, but fewer than half of those companies have their emissions figures verified by a third party.

However, with the notable exceptions of BP and GlaxoSmithKline, whose data was defined by the EIO as incomplete, all companies with a market value of more than $100bn (£62bn) publicly disclose their complete emissions data.

Under the rules of the listing, Amlin and financial services giant Aviva, with carbon intensities of 1.21 and 1.36 respectively, top the table, closely followed by investment management business Man Group with 6.29 and BSkyB with 6.69. Energy services company AMEC, with a rating of 8.31, rounds off the top five.

Non-disclosure heavily affected the rankings at the other end of the table.

For example, Randgold, a gold-mining company operating primarily in West Africa, chose not to publish its emissions data despite competitors BHP Billiton and Xstrata releasing and verifying emissions figures. As a result, EIO benchmarked Randgold's emissions against its highest disclosing sectoral competitor, resulting in a score of 3,477.34 and a last-place ranking in the new table.

Second from bottom is global cruise company Carnival with 2,990.90, followed by offshore driller Ensco with 1,129.88. Utilities company Pennon scores 406.91 and financial giant Standard Chartered comes in 96th with 117.50. All these companies fell into the 13 per cent of organisations that do disclose any emissions data.

"Given that each company listed in the ET UK 100 is one of the biggest in Britain, if not the world, keeping this information out of the public domain is no longer excusable," said Sam Gill, operational director of the EIO.

He added that the rankings showed the remarkable difference in attitude companies had, even within sectors.

"The rankings show that it is less about what industry a company is in and more about individual attitudes towards transparency," Gill said. "How can Shell and BP be at opposite ends of the table, or Lloyds and Standard Chartered?"

The EIO plans to expand beyond the ET UK 100 and create a global environmental tracking system, including ET Global 800, Europe 300, North America 300, Asia-Pacific 300 and BRICS 100.

The organisation also plans to establish a series of tradable indices later this year designed to put pressure on companies to lower emissions by influencing share prices, ultimately giving investors a tool to encourage transparency.

In the UK, the Climate Change Act 2008 provides a platform to introduce mandatory emissions reporting, a proposal approved of by more than 80 per cent of business professionals, according to a survey conducted by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment last year.

An announcement is expected imminently, as the government is obliged to either impose greenhouse gas reporting rules or provide an explanation for failing to introduce new regulations by April 2012, a timeline which would require a decision this year.