CFS launches new carbon campaign

CO-OPERATIVE Financial Services has today joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund to call for new legislation for companies to disclose their future carbon liabilities.

The Manchester-based CFS, famed for its ethical approach to business, claims that carbon-intensive industries are threatening to create an entirely new class of toxic financial investments, forcing an already beleaguered financial system into a deeper crisis.

It wants new legislation to force oil, gas and power firms to disclose their future carbon liabilities in their financial reports whether they are from processes or strategic investments – a move CFS says will enable investors to factor these risks into investment appraisal strategies.

The call for a change in law is part of the ‘toxic fuels’ campaign, run by WWF-UK and CFS which aims to highlight the environmental and financial risks associated with unconventional fossil fuels such as tar sands,

CFS says that although carbon trading schemes are growing and investors are beginning to take climate risk more seriously, mainstream financial markets and investment practices are still failing to adequately take account of the emergence of a carbon-constrained world and the long-term liabilities of carbon investment strategies.

Paul Monaghan, head of social goals and sustainability at CFS said: “Given the number of accounting and financial scandals the world has seen over the past ten years, it would be inexcusable if there were inaction on the next time-bomb to stare us in the face.

“Tar sands and other unconventional fossil fuels are toxic financially and environmentally especially with the emergence of low carbon fuel standards in Europe and California. However, investors need a way to sort the wheat from the chaff and that’s why we are calling for new disclosure requirements.”