Study says tech firms underreport their carbon footprint
Large technology companies such as SAP, IBM and Google are underreporting their greenhouse gas emissions at a time of heightened scrutiny over the role of corporations in driving climate change, a study released Friday claimed.
Research published in the journal Nature Communications found inconsistencies in the way companies declare their carbon footprint, a measure that is increasingly considered important for investors.
The study, conducted by researchers at the Technical University of Munich, examined so-called scope 3 emissions that account for a large share of corporate carbon footprints, such as business travel, employee commuting and how companies’ products are used.
Focusing on 56 companies in the tech industry, they found that on average these failed to disclose about half of their emissions.
Christian Stoll, one of the report’s authors, said some companies – such as Google’s parent Alphabet – were found to have been consistent in how they reported their carbon footprint, but excluded some emissions that should have been counted.
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