Ms Ruddock, who opened the proceedings, emphasised the fundamental role played by investors in turning companies green. Speaking at the launch, she said:

“It is imperative for Government and businesses to work closely together to question our practices challenge them and, more importantly, make business choices that reflect the importance of a low carbon economy.

“Investors have a particularly key role to play in this. They should give consideration to environmental and social credentials, sending out signals to the financial markets to say that carbon disclosure is vital and show companies that it will affect their investment decisions. Together we must work to drive down emissions.”

The Carbon Disclosure Project is now in its seventh year and was formed to keep the pressure on large companies to ensure transparency and accountability in business by urging them to disclose information on how they measure, report and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The independent not-for-profit organisation acts as a global secretariat for institutional investor collaboration on climate change as well as being the largest investor alliance of its kind.

While the project has been steadily gathering pace and popularity since its inception, 2007 has seen the greatest response rate to date with 91% of FTSE100 and 70% of FTSE350 supplying information on their GHG status.

The CDP currently acts on behalf of 315 investor signatories holding a total of $41 trillion of assets under management including most UK and US based investment banks.

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