Maplecroft has created The Climate Innovation Indexes (CII), composed of the Maplecroft Climate Innovation Index US 100, Maplecroft Climate Innovation Index Leaders, and The Maplecroft Climate Innovation Index Benchmark. Maplecroft assesses companies based on “management, mitigation, emissions reductions, innovation and adaptation” and then uses this data to create the CII’s. Innovation holds the greatest weight when calculating the indexes. The companies included in Maplecroft indexes are publicly owned companies with over $1 billion in market capital.
Once calculated, these indexes allow investors to see the potential for companies to develop and adapt to climate changes over time and cope with the risks associated with it. It also allows the companies included to compare themselves to other companies in the index. Companies are recognized when they have continuous improvements in “innovation, processes, and carbon performance,” which are reflected in their rankings.
The CII’s are unique in that they include a variety of companies and analyze both the opportunity and risk associated with climate change in the future. The CII’s allow investors to make more informed decisions about companies and invest in those that are “simultaneously innovative, sustainable, and financially viable.” The top rated companies on Maplecroft’s indexes are ones that have moved beyond just efficiency and have created new technologies that reduce carbon emission and will have important global effects.
