Seminar, 2 February 2010: Craig Mackenzie

Voluntary corporate climate change accounting, reporting and benchmarking: a useful supplement to conventional policy instruments?’

Part of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy’s 2009-2010 Seminar Series at the University of Leeds
Dr Craig Mackenzie, Director for the Centre for Business and Climate Change
Chair: Professor Andy Gouldson, Director, Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy
Time: 5-6pm, Tuesday 2nd February 2010
Venue: Geography East Lecture Theatre, G23

Abstract: The corporate sector is a major source of anthropogenic carbon emissions (40%+ of total) and will be heavily affected by global climate change mitigation and adaptation policy. As a result there is a growing demand - from companies, investors and other stakeholders - to understand corporate exposure to climate change risks and to evaluate corporate performance in managing them. This demand has given rise to a variety of voluntary reporting and evaluation initiatives (e.g. the Carbon Disclosure Project, Climate Counts, Brand Emissions). What is the value of these initiatives? Can they play a useful role in accelerating corporate action on climate change? What challenges do they face?

The speaker: Dr. Craig Mackenzie is Director of the Centre for Business and Climate Change at the University of Edinburgh Business School. He leads a project in the ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy. Prior to returning to academia in 2006 he lead the socially responsible investment teams at Friends Ivory & Sime and then Insight Investment. He has been Chair of the Criteria Development Committee at FTSE4Good since inception, was a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Reporting Initiative, and advises the Carbon Disclosure Project Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration. He is also Technical Director of ENDS Carbon, a university spin-out company focused on using data from CDP and other sources to evaluate corporate carbon risk exposure and performance.

No reservation is required but places in the lecture theatre are available on a first come first served basis.

Please feel free to forward details of the seminars to any colleagues, students or other contacts who might be interested.