CDP is facilitating analysis around the exposure of companies and investor portfolios to carbon risk through strengthening the accuracy and completeness of the GHG emissions data available to investors. Beginning in 2015, it has developed an annual quality reviewed GHG modelled emissions dataset. The dataset is built upon the original foundations of transparency, robust methods and value to investors while covering a wider universe of companies, integrating more relevant data points and expanding upon the types and pedigrees of the models used for estimation. This work has been supported by CDP’s Technical Advisory Committee (Data), which provided expert advice during the course of the initial project.

The methods used for producing the GHG modelled emissions dataset are broken into five documents: The main paper provides a summary of the end-to-end development while each of the Technical Annexes delves into methods employed during the different process steps, from data cleaning to estimation using bottom-up and statistical approaches.

GHG Modelled Emissions Dataset-Main
GHG Modelled Emissions Dataset-Technical-Annex-I-Data-Cleaning-Approach
GHG Modelled Emissions Dataset-Technical-Annex-II-Bottom-up-Estimation-Methodology
GHG Modelled Emissions Dataset-Technical-Annex-III-Statistical-Framework
GHG Modelled Emissions Dataset-Technical-Annex-IV-Scope 3 Overview and Modelling
GHG Modelled Emissions Dataset 2016 Licence

The application of this fully transparent methodology has been targeted at CDP’s 2016 Carbon Action sample of companies – a group of 1,300 of the highest-emitting public companies on which the investor-led Carbon Action Initiative focuses – and constituents of the MSCI All-Country World Index (ACWI) – a widely used international index covering around 85% of the investable equity universe¹. CDP’s Investor Members enjoy full access to the dataset, which contains:

• Absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions
• Total fuel consumption and purchased steam, heat, electricity & cooling (SHEC) use
• Emissions revenue intensity (Scope 1 + 2 per unit of revenue in US dollars)

Additionally, energy and emissions intensities are provided per unit of physical output for companies in high emitting sectors.

The data are input to the final dataset through a number of streams, including CDP responses, data collected from company filings, data sent directly to CDP’s Data Team, and estimates where no self-reported data were locatable. The total Scope 1 emissions encapsulated in the dataset are approximately 10.9 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalent, representing one-fifth of global annual GHG emissions.

¹MSCI 2016

Use the ‘Scope 1 + 2’ and ‘Data Sources’ links below to toggle between Sankey diagrams illustrating GHG emissions flows by industry of MSCI ACWI constituents and the GHG emissions-weighted data sources comprising CDP’s 2016 GHG modelled emissions dataset, respectively.