Articles

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE:
Companies reject disclosure pleas

Financial Times; Jun 25, 2001 By VANESSA HOULDER

Nearly half the country's largest companies have rejected repeated requests by the government to disclose information about their environmental and social performance, according to a report published today.

A survey of the top 200 quoted companies found that 97 do not disclose any information on their social and environmental performance. Only 16 companies said they would report on these issues for the first time this year.

These results fall well short of government targets. Last October, Tony Blair gave a speech challenging "all of the top 350 companies to be publishing annual environmental reports by the end of 2001".

The government has indicated it may legislate on the disclosure of environmental and social information, if companies fail to comply voluntarily.

The report is published by SalterBaxter, a design and communications consultancy, and Environmental Context, an environmental consultancy. The authors say the government's exhortations are not being heeded. "It appears that companies resent attempts by government to browbeat them into reporting. They . . . are calling the government's bluff on threatened legislation," they say.

Service companies, which are heavily represented among the non-reporters, are put off environmental reporting because the relevant standards are generally designed for manufacturers. They are also disinclined to bother because they feel they have limited impact on the environment.

But the survey also says reporting can have benefits, such as improved reputation and energy efficiency, safer working practices, and better workforce morale.

A series of socially responsible investment indicators, known as FTSE4Good, will be launched next month by FTSE International, a joint venture between the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange.
© The Financial Times Limited