Earlier this month the Carbon Disclosure Project released their 2012 S&P 500 Climate Change report titled “Accelerating progress toward a lower-carbon future.”   Highlights from the report include:

• ·         655 financial institutions with assets of US$78 trillion were signatories to the CDP in
         2012.
• ·         52% of respondents reported emissions reductions versus 35% in 2011.
• ·         92% of the 2012 S&P 500 respondents reported board or executive-level oversight of CDP
         issues.
• ·         Microsoft and UPS ranked highest with a Carbon Disclosure Score of 99/100.
• ·         The telecommunications sector represents just 1% of all S&P 500 CDP respondents.

Many of the facts disclosed by the report are not surprising, such as the growing corporate emphasis on emissions reductions and a strong showing by technology companies. However, one area of surprise is the under-representation of the telecommunications industry. The telecom industry had only 5 respondents, representing just 1% of all S&P 500 respondents.  It did however, boast 2 companies (3% of the total) on the leaderboards of the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) or the Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI).

Chart Credit: Carbon Disclosure Project,2012 "Accelerating progress toward a lower-carbon future."