Investors will from today find it easier to get an insight into the carbon and climate change risks faced by their portfolios, after the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) inked a deal that will see the Bloomberg business newswire make climate change data from over 1,000 companies available to its subscribers.

Investors and companies signed up to Bloomberg's Professional market data service will be able to access information supplied to the CDP by over 1,550 of the world's largest firms.

The data - which is provided to the CDP by firms on an annual basis in response to data requests from the institutional investor-backed lobby group - includes information on a company's carbon footprint, energy usage and climate change strategies.

CDP chief executive Paul Dickinson said that partnership with Bloomberg would make it easier for investors to access data that will help them assess the climate change risks and opportunities associated with different firms.

"The availability of CDP information on Bloomberg will allow investors to run emissions data against carbon prices, earnings and share price, power prices and projected carbon prices," he explained, adding that it would also help them understand the likely "financial implications of climate change to companies worldwide".

Bloomberg's Emilia Fazzalari said that as well as helping investors analyse the potential regulatory risks firms face as a result of their carbon emissions, the new service would also provide companies with more tools for participating in emissions trading markets.

The announcement came on the same day the CDP released its annual report on businesses' carbon disclosure, revealing that the vast majority of firms approached by the organisation now release climate change information, with 77 per cent of firms on the Global 500 and 64 per cent of those on the US S&P list responding to its data requests.

Moreover, growing numbers of those firms are providing evidence of meaningful climate change strategies, with 76 per cent of the responding Global 500 firms reporting emission reduction targets based on clear timelines, compared with just 42 per cent last year.