CLIMATE ACTION 100+
The focus of this work is to provide data to the Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) investors and companies to set emission reductions targets, align with the Paris Agreement and manage energy transition risk.
Through our research and engagement with CA100+ stakeholders we aim to help investors to fully understand the implication of our analytics, initiate action from companies and the biggest emitters, and end greenwashing and the “minimum effort is acceptable” narrative.
As an official data provider to the initiative, we developed a framework to evaluate whether fossil fuel companies have delivered truly Paris complaint plans. We do this by providing CA100+ members with company profiles.
In summer 2019, we released our first round of utilities profiles “Making it Mainstream” focusing on coal power, which garnered interest from CA100+ members, and was well covered by outlets such as the S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The CA100+ team also completed the second round of Oil & Gas profiles in December 2019 and provided a summary report in Q1 2020, which highlights small positive improvements in remuneration and in the level of carbon reduction ambition. We found that in general the response from companies is still too slow.
KEY INVESTOR PRODUCT:
Our Oil & Gas and Utility company profiles are used by numerous investors to support their overall engagements.
CA100+ has also made progress with several of the targeted companies which have validated our influence by seeking to reach out to us directly. Some of them (e.g. BP, Glencore, BHP, Repsol, Equinor) have announced they have either set new climate and/or emissions targets, promised to set targets and/or promised to provide additional climate related reporting and disclosure. Our data has been part of this work with the companies.
In December 2019, Repsol was the first Oil & Gas company in CA100+ to announce a ‘net zero’ emission ambition for 2050 and took an almost EUR 5 billion asset write-down – this highlighted the risk and the impact that we have been talking about for years and will be used by CA100+ engaging investors to pressure other oil & gas companies.
Towards the end of 2019, two CA100+ members, Iberdrola and SSE, were the first companies to align with Carbon Tracker’s Paris-compliant methodology for coal power – a coal unit retirement schedule and date assigned to each coal unit. This is a major announcement with the hope that other companies will follow.
WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT US:
“Carbon Tracker continues to push the envelope when it comes to innovative and influential research. By putting climate change impacts into a language that investors can understand, they have demonstrably helped to shape the debate between companies and their shareholders, focusing minds on stranded assets and misguided capex. This matters in a world where private action is essential to confronting climate change. Supported by Carbon Tracker’s research, shareholders are in a stronger position to make the case for change.”
Natasha Landell-Mills, Head of Stewardship, Sarasin & Partners