According to a report released Monday by the Carbon Disclosure Project, utilities could be greatly affected by any regulation of emission changes by the U.S.
The report was based on a survey given to 500 of the world’s largest companies, with 360 of those companies choosing to respond. Some of the U.S. companies that participated include Boeing, Home Depot and Wal-Mart. Of the companies that responded, 87 percent said climate change “represented commercial risks and/or opportunities.”
According to the report, total emissions reported were 3.34 tons, up 10 percent from the 2.99 tons reported last year. The report also notes that some utilities, namely those who rely on coal, could see a cut in profits up to 25 percent due to the cost of complying with any new regulations.
In North America, “clean tech” is the fifth largest venture capital investment category, behind Biotechnology, Software, Medical and Telecommunications. Estimations have the clean energy market growing from $39.9 billion to $167.2 billion by 2015, the report says.
The Carbon Disclosure Project is a special project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors in New York and is comprised of a group of investors. It serves as a means for several investors to sign a single request for disclosure of information on Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The request is then circulated to some of the world’s largest FT500 companies for response.
For more information, visit their website at http://www.cdproject.net.