AGL confirms leading position in sustainability with inclusion on DJSI

AGL Energy Limited has been recognised as one of the world’s leading electric utilities in sustainability performance by being named on the global Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World).

AGL was the only Australian company to be named among the 13 companies worldwide which make up the electric utilities section of the DJSI World.

AGL was also named on the Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index (DJSI Asia Pacific).

The DJSI is based on sustainability investment specialist SAM's corporate sustainability assessment, which identifies global sustainability leaders on the basis of economic, environmental and social criteria.

The DJSI follows a best-in-class approach and includes sustainability leaders from each industry on a global and regional level. The annual DJSI review analyses corporate economic, environmental and social performance.

AGL’s score on the DJSI World was nearly 50% higher than the average score across all 110 electric utilities under consideration. Of the final 13 selected, AGL’s final score was more than 10% higher than the threshold score.

AGL’s Chief Economist and Group Head of Corporate Affairs, Paul Simshauser, said AGL was one of just 20 Australian firms named among the 317 global companies which make up the DJSI World.

“This consolidates AGL's position as Australia's leading sustainable company in the energy sector,” Dr Simshauser said.

“Sustainability is central to everything AGL does. We are Australia's leading integrated renewable energy company and have positioned ourselves well for a carbon-constrained future.

“This was recognised this year with AGL ranked third in the world in relation to carbon disclosure by electric utilities [Carbon Disclosure Project].”

He said all aspects of sustainability - economic, environmental and social - would continue to be equally important as Australia moved towards a carbon-constrained future, with an increasing focus on renewable and other more expensive energy resources.

In April, AGL was rated one of the top three electric utilities in the world for providing high-quality public information about its climate change risks, opportunities and strategies for integrating climate change into the core business.

AGL achieved a score of 81 out of 100 on the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) 2008 for Electric Utilities. Only the Spanish firms Endesa (85) and Iberdrola (82) finished above AGL on the index.

AGL’s score was strong enough to carry Australia/NZ to top regional ranking in the world ahead of Europe, US/Canada, Asia and South America.

“Utilities in the Australia/NZ region had the highest average CDLI score [and] the average score for this region was boosted by AGL, an Australian utility with one of the highest scores among all respondents,” the report noted.

AGL’s score was well above the average score of 58 for companies with high market capitalisation.

The inaugural Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) for Electric Utilities was published in the Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) Electric Utilities Report 2009, which analyses how 110 of the world’s largest publicly listed electric utilities measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions.

AGL was praised for “providing comprehensive descriptions of company-specific climate change risks and opportunities as well as their strategies to integrate climate change into core business strategies”.

The CDP, an independent not-for-profit organisation holding the world’s largest database of corporate climate change information, said the top three companies on the CDLI for Electric Utilities, including AGL, were providing valuable information for investors.

“The CDLI scoring system highlights companies taking the lead on climate change disclosure,” the report says.

“As institutional investors look to companies for disclosure on climate change that will help inform investment decisions, a growing number of companies are using the CDP reporting process to offer quantitative data to help investors assess the potential financial impact of climate risks.

“These three leading utilities [including AGL] all provide quantitative data for their Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions [direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions] and calculate the emissions intensity of their operations according to standard financial metrics.

“Furthermore, these CDLI leaders detail specific emissions reduction targets and outline their strategies to achieve these targets.” the report continued.

AGL has been participating in the CDP since 2006 and AGL’s first annual carbon disclosure report (and each one since) has earned AGL a place in the ASX100/NZ50 Climate Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI) and a leading ranking in the Australian and New Zealand utilities sector.