Top companies 'failing to report true greenhouse gas emissions'

Britain's biggest companies are massively underreporting the amount of greenhouse gases they are pumping into the atmosphere, according to a new report published today.

The charity Christian Aid claims that the carbon emissions of the country's top 100 companies could be a third higher than stated - meaning that the UK's contribution to global warming is being vastly underestimated. The report calculates that 200 million tonnes of carbon emissions - equivalent to a third of the UK's declared annual total - are missing from the annual accounts of leading companies.

But it also claims that these "missing millions" may be only the tip of the iceberg and that emissions associated with the worldwide activities of FTSE 100 companies may amount to 12-15 per cent of the global total. This compares with the Government's estimate that the UK is responsible for only around 2 per cent of worldwide CO2 emissions.

Christian Aid claimed that only 16 of the FTSE 100 companies reported their carbon emissions using established standards and that if all of them reported on the same basis then the true figure could be 190 million tonnes higher.

Andrew Pendleton, Christian Aid's senior climate change analyst, said: "Our research reveals a truly staggering quantity of unreported carbon dioxide is emitted around the world by the top 100 companies on the London Stock Exchange. And we don't even know the extent of the emissions of many of the biggest companies."

He added that the calculations it had made took no account of emissions by companies in the investment and supply chains which could put the total amount for which FTSE 100 companies are responsible into the billions.

Christian Aid said that if global warming is to be combatted properly - which in the view of many scientists requires a 5 per cent annual cut in CO2 - then it is imperative that the true scale of emissions is known. "At the moment disclosure is entirely voluntary, which is a disgrace. Carbon ought to be the central part of any responsible company's report," Mr Pendleton said.

"The developing world is on the front line of a climate change that has been caused by the rich world. 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."