L'Oreal will ask suppliers for data on carbon emissions

L'Oreal and Reckitt Benckiser are two of the newest members of the London-based CDP's Supply Chain Leadership Collaboration (SCLC), joining the likes of Procter and Gamble, Unilever and Nestle amongst others. Members of the SCLC will select up to fifty suppliers who will collaborate with them on the pilot project in early 2008. Suppliers will be asked to disclose information regarding their carbon use and emissions, and the results from the pilot project will help the CDP refine the project for the roll out in May 2008. The objective of the SCLC is to create a standard method with which to measure carbon emissions and climate change relevant information throughout the supply chain, with the view to managing these emissions in the long term. According to the CDP the standardised method will reduce the burden on suppliers who might otherwise receive multiple requests from partners for similar information. Through the recruitment of corporate giants such as L'Oreal and Unilever the CDP hopes to encourage large numbers of suppliers to disclose this information. "By bringing together the purchasing authority of some of the largest companies in the world, CDP will encourage suppliers to measure and manage their greenhouse emissions. This will enable large companies to work towards managing their total carbon footprint, as the first step to reducing the total carbon footprint is to measure its size,"​ explained CEO of CDP Paul Dickinson. The CDP is calling for new members before the project roll out in May 2008 and hopes to encourage tens of thousands of new suppliers to globally disclose climate relevant information. L'Oreal's director of corporate sustainable development managing Pierre Simoncelli said that becoming a member of the SCLC was a win-win situation for the environment, L'Oreal and the company's suppliers. "Our suppliers will now have a single central source for reporting their greenhouse gas strategies and results that are accessible to all their customers. We also believe this will help drive our performance as well as theirs in this important environmental area,"​ said Simoncelli. The Carbon Discolure Project is a not for profit organisation which aims to create a dialogue between investors, purchasers and corporations regarding a companies' response to climate change. According to the CDP it holds the largest registry of corporate greenhouse gas emissions in the world and aims to inform investors about business related climate risks and opportunities.