Vodacom tops SA emissions disclosure list
New research released today by the Environmental Investment Organisation (EIO), a climate change and finance think tank, has revealed that mobile operator Vodacom leads the way for South African firms who disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.
The ET BRICS 300 Report, which examined the greenhouse gas emissions and transparency of the largest 300 companies in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, found that large quantities of emissions in the Brics countries are not being accounted for.
Vodacom ranked only behind Brazilian Alternative Energy company, Cemig, in the report, but with a combined intensity that is almost four times higher than Cemig, and two thirds that of third-placed Lenovo Group.
The top 10 is made up of three companies each from Brazil, India and China, in addition to one South African company.
ET BRICS 300 Top 10
These are mainly telecoms and technology groups, followed by three financial companies, benefiting from low inferred Scope 3 intensities in each of these sectors.
South Africa leads the Brics countries in terms of the percentage of companies in the country who report complete data, at 53%, followed by Brazil (21%), India (14%), and Russia (13%), while 0% of Chinese companies reported complete data.
Technology is the leading sector in terms of disclosure, at 57%, with telecommunications at a paltry 7%. That said, both of these sectors report complete data which is verified by an external source.
“With 61% of the companies not reporting any data at all and 21% publishing incomplete data, there is clearly large scope for improvement in emissions reporting across the Brics,” the report said.
Carbon Rankings
The other key finding of the report is that no company in the Brics 300 Ranking fully reports emissions across its entire value chain.
Scope 3 (value chain) emissions include greenhouse gas emissions from sources not owned or directly controlled by the company but over which it has influence. It includes categories such as business travel, transportation and distribution, and investments.
“This ought to be a wakeup call for companies. Since the majority of total corporate emissions often come from Scope 3 sources, large quantities of emissions are not being accounted for,” said Sam Gill, CEO at the EIO.
“Not only could this be a source of unmeasured risk for companies but it also means we are not getting the full picture in terms of corporate emissions. This is precisely why the Carbon Rankings are designed to encourage Scope 3 disclosure.”
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