Southern Company gets high marks for environmental transparency
Southern Company earned a score of A- from the CDP Climate Change Disclosure for its environmental transparency and leadership within the North America region and thermal power generation sector. In 2019, the company received a B.
The CDP, formally the Carbon Disclosure Project, is a global nonprofit that releases annual scores to incentivize and guide companies and municipalities in becoming leaders in environmental transparency and action.
By completing CDP’s annual request for climate change disclosure, Southern Company is demonstrating the transparency and accountability vital to tracking progress toward a thriving, sustainable future.
“Southern Company is committed to increasing disclosure of our system’s strategy and process for planning to a net zero future. Participating in the CDP climate disclosure is another step in that process,” said Jeff Burleson, Southern Company senior vice president environmental and system planning. “Our commitment to delivering energy and energy solutions includes conserving and protecting the environment for today and for future generations.”
In 2020, Southern Company moved to a long-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of net zero emissions by 2050. This replaces the low- to no-carbon goal the company announced in 2018. The Southern Company system has already made significant progress toward our 2030 goal of reducing emissions by 50% from 2007 levels.
Building on its disclosure to CDP, Southern Company also issued the Implementation and Action toward Net Zero report in 2020.
More than 9,600 companies disclosed environmental data through CDP in 2020. This is in addition to the more than 920 cities, states and regions that disclosed in 2019, making CDP’s platform one of the richest sources of information globally on how companies and governments are leading on environmental performance.
“Corporations have a significant role to play in solving the environmental crisis, and the first essential step is to be transparent around their current environmental impacts,” said Ateli Iyalla, managing director at CDP North America. “Southern Company is among a critical mass of companies that are disclosing their environmental impact to CDP annually – thereby uncovering risks and opportunities, boosting their competitive advantage and tracking press toward sound environmental management. I look forward to seeing them advance their action and continue on a path toward true environmental stewardship.”
