Climate fund claims win on greenhouse gases

Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday 4/12/2010 Page: 4

THE Climate Advocacy Fund has claimed victory in its campaign to get Aquila Resources and Paladin Energy to start reporting greenhouse gas emissions to shareholders. However, the founder and managing director of Paladin Energy, John Borshoff, has declared that his company "won't be held captive to eco-terrorists" and has not yet put the proposal to its board. The Climate Advocacy Fund, a joint initiative between The Climate Institute Australia and Australian Ethical Investor, said Aquila Resources had given an undertaking that it would report its emissions and reduction strategies next year as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project. It said Paladin Energy had also agreed to report emissions with the Global Reporting Initiative with two years.

The climate fund announced in September plans to target Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources, along with Woodside Petroleum and Oil Search, for failing to provide adequate information to shareholders about their carbon footprints. Julian Poulter, business director of The Climate Institute Australia, said Paladin Energy and Aquila Resources had taken important steps forward. "This sends a signal to other high emitting companies that disclosure and the management of carbon liabilities is core business and essential to providing shareholders, and the market, with the necessary information about this key material risk to their long term financial health", he said.

But Mr Borshoff said his company had agreed to nothing and attacked the Climate Advocacy Fund, calling on companies to "stand up against this and make their own minds up on (climate related) risks". "This whole movement has taken a track of religious fervour", he told BusinessDay. "We are not going to be held captive to eco-terrorists. It is like the nonsense around the Y2K bug. Who talks about the complete waste of time that that turned out to be?" Mr Borshoff said. "We will take a very pragmatic approach and if we see that this has some relevance then we will do it."