The Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank and St George Bank are among a minority of Australia’s largest companies that refused to participate in this year’s international Carbon Disclosure Project, results released yesterday in New York show.
The Commonwealth Bank has declined to participate for each of the past three years. However, St George Bank answered last year’s questionnaire. Macquarie Bank was invited to participate in 2005 and 2006 and declined in both years.
Other major companies declining to participate this year include James Hardie (for the second year), Coles Group Ltd Australia and Lihir Gold. Last year, Lihir Gold agreed to participate and Coles provided information.
The Australian Stock Exchange also declined to participate, as it did last year.
This year’s Carbon Disclosure Project quizzed 2,400 of the world’s largest companies on their greenhouse gas emissions and on climate change risks and opportunities affecting their business.
The project acts on behalf of 315 institutional investors managing more than US$41 trillion in assets.
Companies that did not provide any response this year (as distinct from declining to participate) include Babcock & Brown Infrastructure Group Australia, John Fairfax (publishers of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) and media and gambling company Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd Australia.
Alumina Ltd among first-timers
Alumina Ltd Australia, which owns Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) in conjunction with Alcoa, is one of several Australian companies that this year answered the survey for the first time, after last year declining to participate.
Others include Multiplex Group Australia, Orica, Paperlinx, Perpetual Ltd Australia and QBE Insurance Group.
Alumina Ltd’s response says the company “is concerned that consumers or regulations will be biased against the primary production phase of aluminium”.
Aluminium requires a lot of energy to produce but is “highly desirable from a climate perspective because it provides overall life cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions reductions”, it says.
This is because of “superior product characteristics such as high strength to weight ratio, malleability, durability and recyclability”, it says.
Alumina Ltd says it is closely monitoring the development of carbon trading and/or carbon taxing regimes in various countries “for the potential impacts they could have on the competitiveness of existing AWAC operations, and on the location of further AWAC investments”.
The Carbon Disclosure Project will have its Australian launch in Melbourne on October 24.
Full list of Australian and New Zealand companies declining to participate
