The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a collaboration of 385 institutional investors with assets under management of US $57 trillion, today announced a three-year global partnership with Merrill Lynch & Co, Inc.
CDP is the world’s largest investor collaboration on climate change. Each year it sends a request to over 3,000 companies globally on behalf of investors (including Merrill Lynch, AXA, Allianz, ANZ, Banco do Brazil, Mitsubishi UFJ, AIG Investments, The RBS Group and HSBC). The request asks companies to measure and disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and report on their strategy for dealing with risks and opportunities associated with climate change.
As a global partner, Merrill Lynch will play a key role in supporting CDP’s development and growth worldwide over the next three years. Merrill Lynch’s global reach will be invaluable in consolidating CDP operations in current regions, such as the USA and the UK and in launching in new regions such as China and Korea. It will also help increase focus on the vital role that investors play in driving financial flows into low-carbon solutions.
Carbon Disclosure Project CEO, Paul Dickinson: "This global partnership will help CDP to build on its current success in creating a unified business response to climate change. As regulations on greenhouse gas emissions tighten, CDP data will become increasingly useful to help guide investment models. We hope other leading global institutions will follow Merrill Lynch’s lead in working with CDP as part of a Consortium of Global Partners."
CDP will benefit from Merrill Lynch’s expertise in capital markets, carbon trading, investment banking and advisory services to accelerate the collection and disclosure of key corporate climate change data from more and more companies. It will also play an important part in enabling CDP to pursue new projects to expand the CDP reach and to raise awareness of the importance of corporate climate change reporting and accounting.
Merrill Lynch President & COO, Greg Fleming: "As a founding partner of CDP, Merrill Lynch is proud to support the expansion of this critical and unique organization. CDP is the gold standard for carbon disclosure methodology and we are proud to partner with them as we pursue environmental excellence for our firm and our clients."
Merrill Lynch Managing Director & Global Head of Carbon Emissions, Abyd Karmali: "CDP has been instrumental in creating a constructive dialogue between companies and the financial markets on new opportunities and risks posed by climate change. Importantly it has also promoted continuous improvement in corporate reporting on carbon emissions which has been valuable to Merrill Lynch in developing new carbon-related investment products. For example, CDP data were instrumental for Merrill Lynch in launching our Capital Protected Carbon Leaders Europe Index Certificate in 2007."
Notes for Editors:
CDP is an independent not-for-profit organisation which was established in 2000 to facilitate dialogue between companies and investors, supported by quality information, from which a rational response to climate change will emerge. Carbon Disclosure Project is a UK Registered Charity no. 1122330. A company limited by guarantee registered in England no. 05013650. It is also a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in New York, with 501(c)3 charitable status. For more information: www.cdproject.net.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 40 countries and territories and total client assets of almost $2 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Merrill Lynch owns approximately half of BlackRock, one of the world's largest publicly traded investment management companies, with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. For more information: www.ml.com.
For interviews / media enquiries please contact:
Joanna Lee
Carbon Disclosure Project
joanna.lee@cdproject.net
+44 7919 074 926 / +44 207 415 7083
Selena Morris
Merrill Lynch
selena_morris@ml.com
+ 1 212-449-7283
Carbon International
David Hopkins
david.hopkins@carboninternational.com
+44 (0)20 7483 7201
Samantha Hill
samantha.hill@carboninternational.com
+44 (0)20 7483 7205