Recent News: Investors add carbon emissions to company portfolios

Almost two-thirds of the world's 385 biggest companies disclosed their greenhouse gas emissions today in the Carbon Disclosure Project, an annual survey used to identify companies who are not addressing climate change.

Nearly two-thirds of the companies polled said they had an executive in charge of climate change management. Half of the companies said they had some sort of executive in 2007, according to the survey.

Investors are using the information from the survey to manage their portfolios and are basing decisions on the belief that carbon emissions will be more closely regulated in the future. Companies that already manage their emissions have a competitive edge as more environmental regulation may lead to unexpected expenses and losing control of sustaining returns and shares.

"[The survey is] effectively an audit of climate change risk. Over 1,500 companies have gone through that process this year, with 77 percent of the Global 500 responding," said Paul Dickinson, chief executive of the Carbon Disclosure Project. "Whilst it's hard to evaluate definitively, the CDP is likely to have had a pivotal role in developing consciousness of those risks"