The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) says Chinese enterprises are lagging the PRC government in carbon management and has called on them to urgently set measurement and reduction programs.

 

The UK-based NGO says China is one of the ground-breakers among emerging economies in its CO2 policies, yet only a handful of corporations have responded.

 

China was the first developing country to implement a National Climate Change Programme and had endorsed the Copenhagen Accord, CDP noted.

 

Yet “only a few of the top one hundred listed companies have carbon emissions data collection systems, and even fewer have reduction plans and targets,” it said. 

 

Companies need to respond to government policy and regulation on carbon reduction, “and in order to begin to meet targets they need to measure and manage carbon,” it added.

 

Among those companies who had implemented carbon strategies were Baosteel, PetroChina, Lenovo, China Mobile, Sinopec and DQY Agricultural Technology.

 

The Chinese government aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 40% – 45% per unit of GDP by 2020 and has introduced measures to encourage companies to implement a carbon measurement and management strategy.

 

Said Li Rusong, CDP Program Director in China: “China is the world’s second largest economy and Chinese companies must be major players in that drive. In order to achieve the transition there is a need for formal carbon reporting - what is not measured cannot be managed.”

 

He said reporting through an independent party like CDP provided for the development of carbon management strategies but also offered commercial opportunities.

 

“More Chinese companies need to prepare and plan but those already leading the trend are developing low carbon strategies and are capitalizing on international trade and market opportunities,” he said.