L'Oréal, Unilever among global companies leading the way on tackling climate change: CDP

L'Oréal and Unilever are among the major brands to appear on the 2019 Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) ‘A List.'

The non-profit organization has released the latest version of its annual list, which crunches the data to single out the companies leading the way on corporate transparency and action on climate change.

The organization scores thousands of companies each year to come up with the list, in a bid to spur climate change action. This past year saw 179 make the A grade on the basis of their 2019 disclosures -- just 2% of the 8,000 companies scored. 

The beauty sector is represented on the list by the heavyweights L'Oréal and Unilever, whose brands include Dove, Vaseline and Toni & Guy. Fashion group H&M also made the cut, alongside luxury fashion and lifestyle conglomerate Kering, whose brands include Gucci, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen.

"Congratulations to the companies on the A List for blazing a trail for others to follow," said Dexter Galvin, Global Director of Corporations & Supply Chains at CDP, in a statement.

"Other companies should look to these leaders for inspiration and learn from them." He added: "Leading on climate action is good business in today's economy -- it will be essential business in tomorrow's economy."

The A List highlights companies whose transparent and comprehensive disclosure of climate data, awareness of climate risks and demonstration of the management of those risks and best practices sets them apart in their bid to tackle environmental issues. Best practices could range from setting science-based targets, to making the switch to renewable energy.

This year's list sees Japanese companies leading the way with 38 companies, followed by the US with 35 and France with 22.