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Government relations newsletter


Climate Week steps up the agenda on climate change

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CDP's quarterly update on policy development and events

Thousands of people descended on New York to participate in over 120 events, activities and high-profile meetings as part of Climate Week 2014, the collaborative space for all events in support of the UN Climate Summit.

UN Climate Summit: China pledges to take action to reduce carbon emissions

At the Summit, China’s Vice Premier, Zhang Gaoli pledged that by 2020, China would aim to reduce its carbon emissions (per unit of GDP) by 45%, compared with levels in 2005. China used the gathering of world leaders from government, finance, business and civil society as a platform to announce its plans to take firm action on climate change, indicating that its emissions would soon peak.

"CDP welcomes the news and has recently met with Chinese government officials from NDRC. We have offered them our expertise working with companies and cities to jointly address the climate change challenge."
Rusong Li, Director, CDP China

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2,000 cities sign up to new Global Mayors Compact

More than 2,000 cities have signed up to a new Global Mayors Compact, pledging new commitments to curb greenhouse gas emissions. We are delighted to announce that CDP has been designated as an official reporting platform for the Compact of Mayors, which is a commitment by cities to undertake a transparent approach to reduce city-level emissions. The agreement was announced at the UN Climate Summit in New York City.

"The Compact of Mayors builds on ongoing efforts to set increasingly ambitious, voluntary city climate commitments. CDP strongly supports these ambitions and will continue to work closely with representatives on the city-level."
Kyra Appleby, Head of Cities, CDP

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More responsible corporate engagement in climate policy needed

At the UN Climate Summit, the UN Global Compact (UNGC) launched a new Executive Briefing based on the 'Guide for Positive Corporate Influence', which was introduced at the UN climate change conference in Warsaw last year. CDP contributed to the new briefing by providing updated graphs based on 2014 climate disclosures to CDP. In parallel to the development of this briefing, CDP asked companies to commit publicly to following the recommendations within the Guide, taking a bottom-up approach that feeds into civil society efforts on the Road to Paris.

"This best practice will help to ensure that corporate influence on climate policy is transparent and that companies send a consistent message to governments."
Kate Levick, Director of Policy and Regulation, CDP

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Climate Week NYC 2014

Climate Week kicked off on 22 September with an opening ceremony, featuring high level speakers from both government and business, including John Kerry, US Secretary; Ban Ki-Moon, UN Chief; Christiana Figueres, UN Climate Chief; and Tim Cook, CEO of Apple. The speakers highlighted the need for immediate action and emphasized that climate protection and economic growth can go hand in hand. CDP was proud to co-convene Climate Week NYC for the first time, along with The Climate Group.

"Too many people believe you can do this OR that. If you innovate and you set the bar high you will find a way to do both."
Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer, Apple

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CDP Road to Paris 2015 Initiative

During Climate Week, CDP was delighted to unveil results from its Road to Paris 2015 initiative. A number of companies that respond to CDP have signed up to key climate change initiatives, which are imperative to reduce corporate climate change emissions. This includes a commitment to:

{ Adopting science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction target (25 companies);
{ Procuring 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020 (11 companies);
{ Removing commodity-driven deforestation from all supply chains by 2020 (13 companies);
{ Providing climate change information in mainstream corporate reports (39 companies);
{ Supporting efforts (in particular calls by the World Bank and UNGC) for a price on carbon (11 companies); and
{ Engaging responsibly on climate policy (26 companies).

"A successful agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015 will only be possible if a strong message of leadership comes from the business community and if that message reaches governments and policy makers worldwide."
Paul Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, CDP

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Investors commit to decarbonize $100 billion in investments

UN and leading investors committed to substantially reduce the carbon footprint of US$100 billion of institutional investment worldwide. The Portfolio Decarbonisation Coalition (PDC) was launched during the UN Climate Summit 2014. The initiative is co-founded by UNEP's Finance Initiative (UNEP FI); AP4, the fourth national pension fund of Sweden; Amundi, Europe’s largest asset manager; and CDP.

The announcement is expected to signal to carbon-intensive companies around the world that greenhouse gas emissions pose not only a threat to economic stability, but also to their portfolios.

"A successful agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in 2015 will only be possible if a strong message of leadership comes from the business community and if that message reaches governments and policy makers worldwide."
Paul Dickinson, Executive Chairman, CDP

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EU: Ground-breaking new legislation on non-financial reporting

Over 6000 companies across the EU will now be required to disclose non-financial information as part of their mainstream reporting to investors. The European Council agreed on a new pioneering Directive governing corporate reporting of non-financial information. This marked another step towards greater corporate transparency and performance on environmental and social matters.

CDP has played a key role in shaping the Directive and is delighted that the Directive has been adopted. Those companies already reporting to CDP are particularly well placed to respond to it. CDP has been directly engaged in the development of non-financial reporting by supporting the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB). CDSB’s Reporting Framework is a unique tool that will enable EU companies to use data from their CDP response to comply with the new European legislation on non-financial reporting.

"Having worked with the world’s largest institutional investors for over a decade to encourage companies to disclose and manage their environmental impacts, CDP regards non-financial reporting as vital for driving a sustainable European economy. Investors want to have the full picture and understand which companies are best positioned to thrive in a resource-constrained economy. This legislation shifts financial perspectives from short to long-term and presents a significant opportunity to increase EU competitiveness."
Steven Tebbe, Director, CDP Europe

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New report shows large global companies are ready for a price on carbon

Globally, 150 companies in six continents reported using carbon pricing when disclosing to CDP’s climate change program. 638 companies said that carbon pricing presented an opportunity to their business and 212 companies reported positive advocacy to government in favor of carbon pricing.

These findings are based on a new CDP report on carbon pricing that was released this month. Evidently, businesses are preparing for a robust, internationally-linked carbon market and would welcome regulatory certainty, nationally and internationally, with respect to climate change policy and carbon pricing.

"Companies in the US and worldwide are already advanced in their use of carbon pricing. The world’s largest companies are outpacing their governments in responding to climate change and expect carbon to be priced."
Paul Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, CDP

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Companies underestimating regulatory risk from palm oil

Indonesians went to the polls earlier this year in what was one of the tightest presidential elections in its modern history. While economic and domestic issues featured heavily in the campaigns, very few companies reporting to CDP’s forests program are currently recognizing any material regulatory risk from palm oil to their business. Companies far removed from the politics in South-East Asia may need to pay closer attention to how future policy direction could impact the region’s hottest commodity, palm oil.

"Companies that use palm oil are heavily reliant on a few political economies. Any change in political attitudes towards land allocation, climate change policy or trade tariffs, could have a significant bearing on the production and trade of palm oil with implications that could travel along the supply chain."
Katie McCoy, Head of Forests, CDP

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Cities are taking the lead on climate adaptation

207 cities across the globe are taking the lead on climate adaptation, protecting around 400 million people from the effects of climate change and creating resilient places to do business. Protecting Our Capital: How climate adaptation in cities creates a resilient place for business is based on responses from these 207 cities across the globe.The report finds that both cities and companies are aware of the substantial financial values associated with climate change impacts and that city action on climate change helps reduce those risks for businesses.

"The benefits that business brings to cities, including jobs, tax revenue and services, are one of the drivers for cities to improve their climate resilience."
Paul Dickinson, Executive Chairman, CDP

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Event radar

World Summit of Regions for Climate
Paris, 10 - 11 October 2014 The Summit is organized by R20 Regions of Climate Action. Chaired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Governor of California and founder of non-profit organization, R20, and by Michèle Sabban, President of R20, this summit of global importance will bring together regions and local governments from across five continents, as well as economic leaders, in order to formulate a new international agreement on climate change. Find out more and register

CDP Climate Change Leaders Launch
15 October 2014 CDP will be launching its Global Leaders report on 15 October 2014. This will showcase companies that are leading on climate change at a global, regional and national level. Launches are taking place around the world from mid-October in 24 countries in five continents, including Australia, Germany, South Africa and the UK.

Innovation Forum
London, England, 28 - 29 October 2014 This event combating deforestation is an annual meeting place that discusses the trends, debates the issues, connects the key players and drives change. CDP is presenting at this event and will showcase the latest data and insights from its forests program. Find out more and register

CDP Global Water Report Launch
Barcelona, Spain, 5 November 2014 CDP will be launching the results of its Global Water Report at the 2nd Annual European Innovation Partnership (EIP) water conference, under the theme 'Connecting water innovation demand and supply'. Find out more and register

Chatham House Conference
London, England, 3 - 4 November 2014 The 18th Annual Chatham House Conference on Climate Change: Raising Ambition, Delivering Results will take stock of recent developments, including the latest science, the findings of high-level commissions, initiatives from the business community and the UN Climate Summit. Find out more and register

Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit
Sydney, Australia, 12 November 2014 The Summit will bring together ministers from forest nations and donor countries, corporate leaders and senior officials from key non-government organizations. They will focus on practical actions to reduce forest loss, while recognizing the legitimate development aspirations of rainforest nations and communities. Find out more and register

Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development
Singapore, 24 - 25 November 2014 Prosperity is defined as a successful, flourishing, and thriving condition, most often in economic terms but increasingly in reference to health, happiness and the environment. Business leaders, NGOs and policy-makers from around the world will meet at the Responsible Business Forum on Sustainable Development 2014, to shape practical solutions for prosperity across our natural, economic and societal systems. Find out more and register

World Climate Summit 2014
Lima, Peru, 10 - 11 December 2014 The World Climate Summit in Lima is a business conference during the UNFCCC COP. This year’s summit will be a strong stepping stone towards getting a global deal in Paris in 2015. With Peru being one of the fastest growing economies in Latin America, this will be a unique occasion to promote business, finance and government solutions for sustainable green growth in one of the most exciting emerging markets. Find out more and register