Brown-Forman Commended on Quality of Climate Change Disclosure Practice

Brown-Forman has been commended by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which represents 385 institutional investors with $57 trillion in assets under management, for its approach to climate change disclosure.

This year marks the first time Brown-Forman has been included in CDP’s “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.” This index highlights the constituent companies within the S&P 500 Index which have displayed the most professional approach to corporate governance in respect of climate change disclosure practices.

Compiled by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on behalf of CDP, the index comprises 60 companies of the S&P 500 Index based on PwC’s analysis of the responses to CDP’s 2008 Questionnaire which focused on greenhouse gas emissions, emissions reduction targets and risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

The Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index, which provides an evaluation tool for institutional investors, is made up of the top 30 companies selected from non-carbon-intensive sectors and the top 30 companies selected from carbon-intensive sectors. Brown-Forman is in the non-carbon intensive sector.

Brown-Forman had the second-highest score among the leading companies in the retail and consumer sector, finishing just behind the Coca-Cola Company and ahead of such companies as Molson Coors, Colgate-Palmolive, and PepsiCo, Inc.

“Given that this is our first time participating in the CDP, we are honored to receive this recognition,” said Don Berg, Brown-Forman’s chief financial officer. “Addressing climate change and managing greenhouse gas emissions are areas of growing interest to investors. As such, we believe it is important to provide good information and data on the risks and opportunities climate change poses to our company.”

“As a company committed to corporate responsibility, we understand that conserving and protecting energy resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are essential to our environmental and business performance,” said Jill Jones, Brown-Forman’s senior vice president and managing director of global production.

Paul Dickinson, Chief Executive of the Carbon Disclosure Project, commented: “Good corporate governance in respect of climate change disclosure will inevitably reap its rewards. As carbon regulation increases, those companies that have implemented climate change related strategies are clearly going to be in a far better position to meet the challenge of higher carbon prices than companies that have procrastinated. Good disclosure practices are synonymous with good management.”

The S&P 500 Report including names of companies featured in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index can be found at www.cdproject.net.