Today, Symantec was recognized by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as a leader among S&P 500 companies for the depth and quality of the climate change data we disclosed through our 2014 CDP submission. This is the second year that Symantec has achieved CDP leadership status.
The CDP facilitates corporate management and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related risks and opportunities at the request of 767 investors, representing more than $92 trillion in assets. The leadership index includes 63 S&P 500 companies – the top 10 percent for disclosure scores. We’re honored to be a part of this group.
Since the very beginning of our corporate responsibility journey, we have recognized that climate change is an important issue for Symantec, our stakeholders and our world. Over the last several years, we have reduced our energy footprint, systematically improved our data collection processes and formalized our environmental management system, and feel that we have made significant progress. However, while we are celebrating our inclusion on the CDP Disclosure Leadership Index we know we have more work to do. Looking forward, we intend to set a new goal to reduce emissions associated with our energy use, to create appropriate internal incentives to promote emission reduction activity across our business, and to better understand the emissions arising across our value chain in order that we can appropriately target our efforts. Recognition from organizations like the CDP – the world’s foremost climate change disclosure program – provides us with validation that we are on the right track, and we’ll continue to work with our internal and external stakeholders to set goals, communicate with stakeholders, and reduce our impact.
Partnering with nonprofit organizations is a big part of our strategy to amplify our voice on these topics. Today – the day of the United Nations Climate Change Summit – we’re pleased to be featuring Anne Kelly of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP). Ann is blogging about the EPA’s new carbon emissions standards and the role of business in driving towards a clean energy future. Read her thoughts here.
Cecily Joseph is Symantec’s Vice President, Corporate Responsibility