FT & CITI Environment Awards Shortlist

The judges of the FT and Citi Private Bank inaugural environmental awards taking place on Wednesday 19 September have today released details of the companies entering the awards.

Companies have shown substantial reductions in carbon emissions in the last two years, with many entries revealing above average emissions reductions when compared with national targets set for 2012.

The FT/Citi Private Bank Awards are unique in that they are the first environmental awards to reward companies for increasing carbon efficiency by reduction of carbon emissions in operations when compared to turnover and compared to their peers.

Winning companies will also have shown a commitment to transparency by measuring and declaring their targets and reductions. The emission reductions by companies entered into the awards have ranged from a target to reduce emissions by 10% from 2003 levels by 2010, to a target of reducing emissions by 33% over a five year period.

The pool of companies which declared emissions reduction targets managed a total reduction in emissions between 2005 and 2006 of 1.5 million tonnes of Co2, representing approximately €30 million worth of Co2 emissions on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme.

Commenting on the entries received, Simon Thomas, CEO of Trucost said: “In order to meet the climate change challenge, companies around the globe must improve their carbon efficiency. Business must reduce their dependence on carbon emissions. These innovative awards move beyond green wash and reward companies which have demonstrated that they both measure and have reduced carbon emissions when compared to output.” Countries from around the world have entered the inaugural awards and the judges, assisted by Trucost plc as technical advisor, have examined the quantitative improvements made by companies in reducing their carbon emissions, compared to sales.

Submissions by the extensive list of entrants highlight a number of global environmental trends. Robert Napier, Trustee of the Carbon Disclosure Project added: “The companies that have entered are largely leaders in their respective sectors, and have embedded environmental responsibility within the broader corporate culture. Taking a leadership position on effective environmental management is being viewed as a key differentiator. In contrast, for smaller companies environmental stewardship seems to remain restricted to product level innovation in many instances.”