Carbon Disclosure Project 2011 – Nordic 260 Report


Seizing the opportunities, stepping up the challenge Commentary by Håkan Wirtén, Secretary General, WWF Sweden


As if this wasn’t enough, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is steadily increasing and the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently reported all-time high carbon emissions in 2010.


Whether you have your heart in climate science and protecting natural resources, or in economics and global development, breaking our dependence on fossil fuels is paramount. This calls for a transformation of our economies and the energy systems that fuel them. This is the challenge of our time. But there is good news to go with the endeavour: an energy system based on 100% renewables is possible, and therefore necessary.


The impact of climate change is material already today in all parts of the world. Ever since the IPCC released its Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) in 2007 it’s been clear that developed countries need to reduce their GHG emissions by 80-95% to give us a 50/50 chance (!) of keeping global warming below 2°C. Beyond this level scientists predict catastrophic effects of climate change for ecosystems and economies. Later publications indicate that the situation for our climate is even worse than described in the AR4 report.


Technology isn’t the issue. Leadership wanted. In the transition to a truly low- carbon economy we will face many global challenges, but also global opportunities. A crucial step towards a sustainable energy system based on 100% renewables is to come to grips with our inefficient use of energy and resources. Technology isn’t the issue, there’s a multitude of innovative solutions and technologies waiting to serve the low-carbon market. What we need is ambitious governments who implement measures for faster large-scale deployment of climate innovations, e.g. by increasing support for demonstration and introducing feed-in tariffs.


But what is the role and contribution of Nordic companies in the global transition?


Awareness is high but emissions keep rising The 2011 Nordic CDP respondents seem to recognize the climate challenge, and they display a wide range of strategies to meet it. The many specific examples of profitable energy efficiency measures are instrumental. The communication of such business cases plays an important role in inspiring more companies to follow.


At the same time, a high level of activity may conceal that the sum of our efforts is insufficient or inadequate. This is reflected in the absolute increase in emissions reported by responding companies in 20101


– confirming the IEA all-time


high report – and that emissions reduction activities appeared to be almost entirely cancelled out by increased emissions due to changes in output. Given that a third of the companies only use a carbon intensity target this should come as no surprise. However, it triggers a further discussion about the alleged decoupling of growth and emissions, often put forward by government and industry representatives. A quick look at our carbon footprint in the Nordic countries tells us that we need more transformative measures and to become serious about targets for absolute emission reductions.


Opportunity for business development and strengthened competitiveness Some respondents indicate that additional measures could be taken, but refer to “uncertainty over future regulation” and claim that “unpredictability of national policy- making is holding back investments”. This is confirmed by many studies but only partly true; investments in renewable energy are indeed severely hampered by fragmented policies, but the evidence – also presented in this report – confirms a substantial potential for profitable energy efficiency investments that are ready to roll out. Nonetheless, to realise


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1. Data is based on emissions disclosed by the 119 companies that provided data in both 2010 and 2011 (see page 14). This suggests an increase of 0.9% in Scope 1 and 2 emissions, part of which is also likely to be due to improved methodology.


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