Latest CDP report places SA in top two geographic samples

04 December 2014

According to the latest South African CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) climate change report, managed by the National Business Initiative, South African companies are doing well in reporting their emissions management and strategies. In fact the report, which highlights improvements in climate change performance and disclosure, places South Africa as one of the top two responding geographic samples in the world. 

Nine South African companies made the Climate Performance Leadership Index (CDLI), up from eight in 2013, illustrating that a low carbon future does not mean low profits. The index is part of the global A List of 187 listed international companies identified as demonstrating a superior approach to climate change mitigation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

The SA companies on the A List in 2014 are:

• Anglo American Platinum,
• FirstRand Ltd,
• Harmony Gold Mining Co Ltd,
• Mediclinic International,
• Pick n Pay Stores Ltd,
• Redefine Properties Ltd,
• SABMiller,
• Sanlam, and
• the Standard Bank Group.

Overall, disclosure scores are higher than ever, with Minister of Environmental Affairs, Ms Edna Molewa, pointing out that almost half of the JSE100 companies surveyed for this year’s CDP scored above 90/100 on disclosure (up from a median of 83 in 2013). “Given that disclosure is the cornerstone of all future mitigation efforts, these results are to be commended,” she states. 

However, there is still room for improvement due to the gap between the recognition of risk (or opportunity) and the management actions that companies are taking. In some key areas, South African companies are lagging behind the Global 500 performance. While more companies are voluntarily establishing reduction targets, the scale and ambition of most companies’ emission reduction targets do not yet match the scale of the challenge or the contribution committed to by South Africa, and also tend not to stretch beyond 2020.

Nonetheless, there has been a reduction in total reported emissions and a like-for-like comparison between 2013 and 2014 shows that South African Scope 1 (direct emissions from operations) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy use) emissions are down by 4%. 

NBI CEO Joanne Yawitch commented on the report as follows: “We acknowledge the challenges of growing our businesses to have a positive impact on inequality, poverty and job creation, while simultaneously reducing our emissions; however we need to accelerate our business efforts, set more ambitious targets, and work with government to ensure an appropriate enabling environment to drive innovation and reduce our emissions.”