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2016 ET CARBON RANKINGS REPORT

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<br />

9<br />

Carbon Context<br />

The historic Paris Climate Agreement puts<br />

carbon risk on the agenda for all investors<br />

with the commitment to keep global<br />

temperature rises below 2 °C. It includes<br />

specific reference to ensuring that finance<br />

flows in alignment with the pathway towards<br />

low greenhouse gas emissions and climateresilient<br />

development.<br />

Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of<br />

England and chairman of the international<br />

Financial Stability Board (FSB), has warned<br />

that action to limit climate change could<br />

leave fossil fuels and other high-carbon<br />

investments as worthless stranded assets<br />

threatening investors with huge losses. 15<br />

A task force set up by the FSB is due to make<br />

recommendations in December <strong>2016</strong> on how<br />

asset owners and the companies they invest<br />

in should report on the potential impact of<br />

climate change on their bottom line.<br />

There is also growing awareness of the<br />

importance of reporting and reducing<br />

emissions across companies’ full value<br />

chain. Dell, Toyota and Unilever are among<br />

more than 200 companies worldwide that<br />

have signed up to the Science Based Targets<br />

initiative and pledged to reduce emissions<br />

in line with the global commitment to keep<br />

climate change below 2 °C. 16 This includes<br />

carrying out a full assessment of their Scope<br />

3 emissions.<br />

World leaders have committed to avoiding<br />

dangerous climate change. It is now vital<br />

for the world’s largest companies to show<br />

leadership on emissions accounting and<br />

reporting, and setting decarbonisation<br />

targets. Those that act will play an important<br />

part in achieving that goal. Those that fail to<br />

act risk seeing their businesses undermined<br />

by global action to cut carbon.<br />

The <strong>ET</strong> Carbon Rankings have three key objectives to support the transition to a<br />

low-carbon economy and a climate-secure world:<br />

1. They enable investors to identify<br />

their exposure to carbon risk and<br />

manage it by switching investment to<br />

more efficient companies across the<br />

economy or within sectors.<br />

2. They provide investors with an<br />

engagement tool that incentivises<br />

companies to reduce and disclose<br />

their carbon emissions.<br />

3. They underpin the <strong>ET</strong> Low Carbon<br />

and Fossil Free Index Series, allowing<br />

investors to closely track traditional<br />

market indexes such as the FTSE<br />

100 or S&P 500, achieving significant<br />

carbon reductions without sacrificing<br />

performance.<br />

“ As stated in the recent BlackRock Investment Institute paper ‘Adapting portfolios<br />

to climate change’, we think that incorporating climate considerations in the<br />

investment process should and can be a fiduciary duty. On top of this, low carbon<br />

indices have the potential to perform in line with or better than parent indices.”<br />

Isabelle Rucart, Head of Sustainable <strong>ET</strong>Fs & Index Investments, BlackRock<br />

<strong>2016</strong> <strong>CARBON</strong> <strong>RANKINGS</strong> <strong>REPORT</strong><br />

<strong>ET</strong> INDEX RESEARCH

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