Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to Release the Results of Third Carbon Disclosure Report

On September 14, 2005, the Carbon Disclosure Project will release the results of their third carbon disclosure report at an event in New York City. The event will feature keynote speakers including Margaret Beckett, UK Secretary of State Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Jim Rogers, Chair of the Board, President and CEO of Cinergy Corp. and CEO-Designate for Duke Energy; and Comptroller Alan Hevesi, trustee of the $120 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund.

Following the event, company responses to CDP's questions will be made available on the organization’s website (www.cdproject.net) for download free of charge.

The Carbon Disclosure Project was formed in 2001 to serve as a secretariat for collaboration among institutional investors worldwide who see climate change as a key concern and challenge for business. CDP launched the results of the first questionnaire submitted on behalf of investors in 2003.

The CDP questionnaire focuses on six areas:

• strategic awareness of climate risks and opportunities
• management systems for climate issues
• programs and policies for reducing emissions
• existence of formal targets for emissions reduction
• monitoring and reporting of emissions
• use of emissions trading

Each year, CDP sends a request for information to the FT500 on behalf of institutional investors, currently numbering 155 (up significantly from 95 in 2004), who collectively represent over $10 trillion in assets. As of the launching of the third report, 300 of the 500 largest corporations worldwide reported their emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project. While CDP focuses on the FT500, the organization encourages all large companies to respond.

Climate change is arguably the most important environmental challenge investors face because of its far-reaching implications. Yet the issue is amenable to the technological and behavioral changes needed to mitigate its effects. Investors can play an instrumental role in reaching that solution.

Which future will investors choose? They have the choice of rewarding companies for externalizing pollution costs or forcing companies to account for the risks associated with greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. They can support existing fossil fuel energy sources and technologies or seek opportunities that will help solve climate change by developing new technologies or adopting ones that reduce company contributions to global warming. This much is clear: to address climate change as an investment issue, business as usual is not an option.

Investors alone cannot "solve" challenges associated with climate change but they can play a critical role by influencing the allocation of capital. Investors must develop strategies to complement and reinforce policymakers' goals of reducing GHG through technologies that improve energy efficiency and developing alternative energy sources. In evaluating and valuing stocks investors must consider the long-term financial implication for companies that are unable or unwilling to address the issue of climate change. The information gathered through the efforts of the Carbon Disclosure Project is a significant step towards achieving these goals.

For more information, visit CDP's website at www.cdproject.net. Contact Daniel Turner at Daniel@cdproject.net to RSVP to the New York City launch of the third CDP report.