TPI's latest research on the world's top Autos and Paper companies finds few have incorporated climate risks into corporate strategy, or undertake climate scenario planning - two key elements of effective climate governance. 

For Auto Manufacturers, key findings include:

• On carbon Management Quality, it is one of the highest performing sectors TPI has assessed - second only to electricity. The average company in this sector is at the stage of integrating climate change into operational decision-making, having set emissions reduction targets and disclosed operational (i.e. Scope 1 and 2) carbon emissions;
• However, six auto manufacturers still either do not acknowledge climate change as a business issue in their public disclosures, or have not progressed beyond mere acknowledgement. This list includes Tesla, which, while only producing electric vehicles, does not currently provide investors with any disclosures of its carbon management practices;
• Most automobile manufacturers’ fleets are currently too emissions-intensive to be aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement. More than half of auto makers do not have fleet emissions targets extending to 2020 or beyond, and those without targets have higher fleet emissions today. However, of the 10 manufacturers with fleet emissions targets extending to 2020, most will be aligned with the Paris Agreement goals in some form.

For Paper Producers:

• This sector continues to be an average performer on carbon Management Quality, similar to other high-carbon manufacturing sectors like cement and steel;
• Six of the world’s largest publicly-listed paper producers do not provide sufficient disclosures for their emissions intensity to be calculated. However, most of those that do provide adequate disclosures aligned with the Paris Agreement goals, including International Paper (by far the biggest company in the sector);
• In 2020, 6 out of the 8 paper producers with targets are aligned with the Paris Agreement in some form; 4 are aligned with a Below 2 Degrees benchmark.

Commenting on the study, Professor Simon Dietz of the Grantham Research Institute at the LSE, said:

“We see some examples of good practice in both of these sectors, but there is a shortage of long-term emissions targets, which deprives investors of a clear signal of company direction on climate change. It is also interesting to see how much companies still have to do to be in line with the disclosure recommendations of the TCFD.”

Further detail on the findings for each sector are inked to below. 

Diagram 1: Automobile Manufacturers Carbon Performance vs benchmarks:



Diagram 2: Paper Producers Carbon Performance vs benchmarks: