Tesla Inc is among a group of companies that have been criticized by investors with more than US$31 trillion in assets for failing to disclose their environmental footprints through global reporting standards.
Amundi SA, Aviva PLC and Nuveen are some of the institutional investors calling on Tesla, Saudi Arabian Oil Co, Exxon Mobil Corp, Glencore PLC, Volvo Group and others to report impacts on the climate, water and forests through CDP, a nonprofit whose disclosure system is used by more than 13,000 companies.
Asset managers targeting environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals have been stepping up pressure on the companies in their portfolios to use consistent reporting metrics as they try to gain clarity and steer clear of potential greenwashing. That is amid growing regulatory scrutiny of the industry and ever-stricter rules designed to slash greenhouse gas emissions before it is too late.
Photo: AFP
“Climate change, deforestation and water security present material risks to investments,” Laurent Babikian, joint global director of capital markets at CDP, said in a statement. “Companies that are failing to disclose their impact risk are trailing behind their competitors in their access to capital.”
This year’s campaign is the sixth coordinated by CDP, with a record 57 percent jump in the number of financial institutions signing up.
Tesla, which is a staple of climate funds due to its dominance in the electric vehicle industry, did not answer e-mails seeking comment.
Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk has previously criticized the ESG industry, even going so far as to call it a “scam.”
He also railed against ESG investing theory after Tesla was excluded from an S&P Global index that tracks companies’ environmental, social and governance standards.
This year, investors participating in the campaign to convert companies to the CDP reporting system are taking aim at 1,473 firms.
Companies that adhere to CDP standards would be in a better position to deal with stricter ESG regulations once they become a reality, Babikian said.
That comes as the US Securities and Exchange Commission hopes to propose tough climate disclosure rules that, in some cases, would require firms to report indirect, or so-called Scope 3, emissions.
Investors backing the CDP campaign asked most of the companies targeted to report on how their business is affecting climate change.
They also wanted more information on water and forest impacts.
European companies lead the pack in environmental reporting, with about 2,400 firms using the CDP framework, Babikian said.
One in four has science-based emission reduction targets, with more expected, he added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
RSS