For the first time, financial institutions will be asked to disclose in detail the carbon impact of their investment portfolios to the CDP. Last week, Carbon Intelligence hosted a webinar in partnership with CDP and M&G to navigate the changes of the new financial services CDP questionnaire and tackle the challenges of aligning to it and other key topics on the horizon such as TCFD, science-based targets and net-zero.
This webinar focused on the actions financial institutions can take now to show leadership and achieve a positive outcome in their CDP response.
We’ve summarised some key takeaways from the webinar below. As CDP partners and experts on portfolio carbon footprinting, we are well placed to support your business respond to these challenges. Please get in touch with us with any questions or to access the full webinar recording: [email protected]
Key Takeaways:
- There is a new CDP questionnaire for financial institutions .
- There are 27 new questions overall, with a net increase of four questions for this sector. Companies in this sector must identify how this translates into time and effort needed from their sustainability teams to complete. Additionally, the questionnaire has a revised focus on scope 3 emissions from investments – is your company prepared to answer these questions?
- Investors want to know the carbon impact of your investment portfolio
- The new questionnaire is asking financial institutions to disclose the carbon impact of their investment portfolios in detail for the first time. This is a clear signal that investors want to understand how you plan to align your investment strategy to the Paris Agreement and also have access to the data underneath to understand the progress being made.
- Calculating Scope 3 emissions from investments is challenging
- As identified by our audience on the webinar, data availability and reporting processes are key challenges for calculating scope 3 across their portfolio. Identifying the right approach for different asset classes and using technology to streamline data collection are just some of the ways to tackle these challenges.
- Data and engagement are crucial for success
- No attendee in our recent webinar was confident that they would be able to submit their scope 3 emissions for 100% of the investment portfolios. A key theme that emerged during the discussion was the importance of using data to drive engagement and build knowledge. Engagement is crucial both internally to drive action and performance, but also externally to show investors and customers your ESG credentials.
- Use CDP to help drive best practice across your ESG programmes
- Your CDP score reflects the level of ambition and activity within the business across multiple different streams. The questionnaire is a great indicator of future leadership and best practice. A top tip from M&G was to use the CDP as a strategic tool to drive engagement across the business and accelerate your ESG performance.
What we do:
Using the latest technology we have developed an end-to-end process for carbon footprinting that drives overall business impact. We have experience in carbon reporting and verification with over 50 clients, including the top 10 UK Private Equity firms.
We have experience in supporting the financial sector in:
- Value chain emissions reporting, including investment portfolio carbon footprinting
- Setting science-based targets and net-zero strategies
- CDP optimisation
- TCFD and climate scenario analysis
Our unparalleled experience and knowledge has led us to be able to provide our clients with an understanding of key climate risks, an improved reputation and confidence in their data quality. Contact us today to find out how we could help you: [email protected]