The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a global initiative to gather information on the greenhouse gas emissions of the world's largest companies. It is conducted annually on behalf of 475 investors with assets of $55 trillion.

The standard of disclosure from FTSE 350 companies has increased dramatically over the past four years since this group of companies was first included as a CDP sample in 2005. 236 companies responded to CDP 2009, two more than CDP 2008, maintaining an overall response rate of 67%. The increase in response rate for the FTSE 100 was more marked, up by 4% to 95. These results suggest that, notwithstanding short term concerns and pressure on senior management time, climate change remains high on the agenda and the value of the CDP exercise endures.

Companies across all sectors identify sector-specific risks and opportunities in relation to climate change. Of responding companies in CDP 2009, 91% cite at least one opportunity arising from climate change, although these vary widely in terms of the size and timing of perceived benefits.

The CDLI demonstrates range and depth of carbon disclosure. The top ten scoring companies come from five different sectors. This shows that there are clear and, in most cases, consistent disclosure leaders across most areas of business. The response from the Utilities sector is especially notable with a 100% response rate, five of the ten companies appearing in the CDLI as well as the sector having the highest average performance score.

The depth and standard of the responses from the FTSE 350 to the latest CDP questionnaire are a measure of shareholder and corporate engagement on the issue of climate change. They demonstrate the many positive steps that have been taken by UK listed companies over the past year. The strong growth in quality and quantity of disclosure also reflects the advanced stage of climate change regulation and shareholder awareness in Europe. Regulatory regimes such as the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and the UK's Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) make climate change an increasingly important issue for the majority of large businesses and companies are keen to share information on their carbon performance and climate risks and opportunities with investors and other stakeholders.

FTSE 350 report