The research was based solely upon publicly available information readily accessible to an interested third party. This is because in order for companies to be transparent in managing their carbon emissions it is important that any member of the general public has access to this information and that it is provided in an understandable format.
Companies were scored against criteria across four broad subject areas, based upon information available in 2014/15 corporate sustainability reports, annual reports and any additional links from company websites, including sustainability micro-sites. CDP 1 disclosures were only considered if a company directly linked to their CDP response documentation on their website, meaning it is readily and easily accessible to any person browsing the company’s sustainability material.