Christian Aid Urges Morrisons & Barclays Over Climate Change

Christian Aid's new Climate Change campaign has been launched yesterday, outside Barclays Tower at Canary Wharf, London.

The new campaign has seen Barclays Bank and Morrisons Supermarket highlighted as examples of how organisations are not fulfilling their responsibilities to report accurately on areas of their businesses that could affect much wider issues.

Noting that climate change is the most pressing issue for millions of the world's poorest people, Christian Aid called on individuals and churches across the UK to sign up to its new 'Climate Changed' campaign and send postcards to the three companies demanding they publish the true extent of their carbon emissions, and commit to a 5 per cent annual reduction.

As part of the campaign, Christian Aid will be calling on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to implement mandatory reporting standards across UK business. The campaign follows an extensive new report the charity published, which reveals that almost 200 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions are not being reported by top companies on the
London Stock Exchange.

"Barclays and Morrisons have been selected as examples of inaccurate reporting in leading areas of business. Barclays Bank is asked to make public the emissions that result from their lending and investment activities. The campaign also highlights the fact that Morrisons exclude the emissions from their transport fleet and supply chain," said Paul Brannen, Christian Aid's head of campaigns.

"Our research reveals that a huge amount of carbon dioxide is emitted around the world by the top 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange, but is not being reported. We don't know the full extent of the emissions of many of the biggest companies. Barclays and Morrisons are good examples of this, which is why we're targeting them."

He added that if carbon emissions are ever to be cut back by an average of five per cent per year across the world, as many scientists now believe is necessary to achieve climate equilibrium, the true scale of carbon emissions has to be known first.

"The developing world is on the front line of a climate change that has been caused by the rich world," said Mr Brannen. "It is our moral duty to halt the CO2 emissions that place millions of the most vulnerable people in peril from sea level rise, floods, famines and conflict that are being ushered in by the world becoming warmer."

The Christian Aid climate change campaign will run throughout the year.