The eagerly awaited Companies A List 2021, published by CDP, a not-for-profit charity that runs a global environmental disclosure system, is out.
The CDP supports companies, cities, states and regions to measure and manage their risks and opportunities on climate change, water security and deforestation. It does this at the request of their investors, purchasers and city stakeholders. Companies disclose their environmental information by completing a questionnaires on climate change, forests and water security, which provides them with important insights into their environmental performance. Each year, CDP takes the information supplied and scores the companies and cities who are members, as an incentive to move towards greater environmental transparency and action.
The A List sets the bar high: this year’s list features some 270 companies from across all industries, while almost 12,000 companies were scored based on data submitted through CDP’s questionnaires in 2021. The organisation applies an independent methodology to assess all companies, allocating a score of ‘A’ to ‘D’ - based on the comprehensiveness of disclosure, awareness and management of environmental risks and demonstration of best practices associated with environmental leadership, such as setting ambitious and meaningful targets. Those that fail to disclose or who provided insufficient information are marked with an ‘F’.
Tetra Pak, the Swiss beverage carton specialist, this year made the A List for the sixth year running. And for the third time, the company scored a double A: on climate change and on forest protection- two of the three environmental themes covered by CDP.
“We believe that decarbonising the food sector is vital in the race to net zero, and a key enabler for this ambitious goal is being transparent in our own actions,” said Lars Holmquist, Executive Vice President - Sustainability & Communications at Tetra Pak.
The company outperformed its 2020 climate goal, reducing its value chain GHG emissions by 19% compared to the 2010 baseline and demonstrating that decoupling climate impact and economic growth is possible. As part of this overall decrease, Tetra Pak has reduced its operational footprint [Scope 1 and 2] by 70% since 2010. In addition, earlier this year, Tetra Pak was identified by CDP as one of only four ‘trailblazer’ companies taking ‘best practice’ action to combat deforestation.
Looking ahead, the company has committed to switching to 100% renewable electricity in its operations by 2030 in line with RE100 commitment, increasing the use of polymers with renewable or recycled content targeting 20% (by weight of sourced volumes) worldwide by 2025 and achieving a positive impact on biodiversity through forest conservation and nature-based solutions.