Index compares share price with emissions

An environmental index which correlates company share prices to its greenhouse gas emissions has been launched with the aim of bringing transparency to the field and providing a window into any correlation between the two.

Environmental Investment Organisation, a think-tank, hopes its Environmental Tracking Index will have a direct impact on share price when stakeholders can view a company’s level of carbon output against its financial performance in the markets.

“If a significant amount of money is invested in this way, then, in future, a company will be forced to take account of its emissions in order to avoid damaging its share price,” says Michael Gill, creator of the concept. “The question is whether the world’s leading investment institutions live up to their public pledges and environmental responsibilities by adopting it.”

Rachael Singh writes our sustainability page