FTSE 100 Companies Put 0.79% Of Pre-Tax Profits In Climate Research, Mitigation - Down From 04

[hatrack]

The issue of corporate responsibility has moved up the political agenda and was the subject of a high-level seminar hosted by Gordon Brown at No 11 Downing Street last week as the Guardian today reveals that FTSE 100 companies are spending less on the issue.

The top 100 companies in the UK spent 0.79% of their pre-tax profits measuring and mitigating the social and environmental impacts of their businesses. The Guardian's sixth annual social survey of stock market-listed companies, the Giving List, reveals today that the figure is down on last year's 0.87%. The total amount invested in community responsibilities was £986m.

Organised by the Smith Institute and attended by about 50 senior industry figures, the chancellor's seminar last week was addressed by the industry minister, Margaret Hodge; Julia Unwin, of the Food Standards Agency, and Paul Walsh, chief executive of Diageo. The focus of corporate responsibility is changing fast, spurred by the publication last week of Sir Nicholas Stern's review of global warming, commissioned by the Treasury. Legislation on climate change is expected to be announced in the Queen's speech on Wednesday next week.

Every company in the FTSE 100 now produces a corporate responsibility report and, according to the Carbon Neutral Company, 80 of them have identified climate change as a business risk. But only 38 of those have targets for emissions reduction, and a majority of the FTSE 250 have yet to acknowledge the issue publicly.

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http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1940300,00.html