By Nina Chestney

LONDON (Reuters) - Most of the world's largest companies do not report their greenhouse gas emissions fully or correctly and do not have the data independently verified, a study by an environmental research body showed on Wednesday.

Companies are under pressure worldwide from policymakers, and a public increasingly concerned with green issues, to report the environmental fallout of all activities related to their daily business - from plane journeys to office supplies.

Officials hope the data generated can point to potential energy savings and encourage firms to reduce their emissions, while many companies see it as a way of planning for exposure to long-term costs such as taxes on emissions.

But for now London is the only stock exchange that forces all major companies to report in detail and many, particularly in emerging markets like Russia and across Southeast Asia, have all but ignored the idea.

The Environmental Investment Organisation (EIO) found that just 37 percent of the world's 800 largest companies disclosed complete data and correctly adopted the basic principles of emissions reporting.

Only 21 percent had their data externally verified and only one firm, German chemicals producer BASF, reported emissions across its entire value chain - from sources such as business travel, transport, distribution and investments. [More]














Source: Most Firms Get Greenhouse Gas Reports Wrong