(Photo: The T. Rowe Price campus. Credit: Pfister Energy)
T. Rowe Price has published its 2016 – 2017 corporate social responsibility report. The Baltimore-based global investment management organization demonstrated reductions in greenhouse gas emissions per associate over a six-year period.
Between 2010 and 2016, the firm’s total GHG emissions went down 4% and were reduced by 31% per associate, according to the report. This occurred despite a 51% increase in the firm’s associate population.
In addition, T. Rowe Price’s Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions per square foot went down by 6% over the six-year period. Emissions per revenue decreased by 46%. The GHG calculations are based on he World Resources Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development Corporate GHG Protocol, and the firm brought in the third-party professional services firm ICF International to calculate the inventory and comparisons. Another third-party firm verified the quality and totality of the inventory data.
“We have invested in new tools to help expand our environmental management capabilities, including our ability to measure and report progress, such as Planon, a software application to track progress, and Deck Monitoring, a cloud-based measuring and reporting tool for our solar panel production,” the report says. “Our associates are a critical part of our efforts to reduce waste, increase recycling, and establish more sustainable work environments.”
In 2016, the firm’s campus in Owings Mills, Maryland, began generating electricity using more than 7,000 solar panels, producing more than 2 million kWh of electricity and avoiding more than 934 MT of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Waste management performance between 2010 and 2016 showed a 90% reduction in landfill waste, a 35% increase in recycling, and a 467% increase in energy recovery. Composting went down by 23% between 2014 and 2016, however.
Since 2010, T. Rowe Price worked to reduce waste and increase recycling through the following initiatives:
- Streamlining recycling in 98% of their offices worldwide
- Extending composting across their owned US facilities
- Expanding energy recovery programs, which divert waste from landfills to generate energy
The firm, which has $1.05 trillion in assets under management, also expanded its capabilities for analyzing environmental, social, and governance investment considerations. They hired longtime Goldman Sachs Asset Management equity analyst, portfolio manager, and ESG specialist Maria Elena Drew last August as director of research for responsible investing — a newly created role.
Rob Sharps, group chief investment officer and co-head of global equity for the firm, commented that Drew would help the team develop and integrate ESG considerations into T. Rowe Price’s investment process. “Environmental, social and governance factors are important in any comprehensive investment research process,” he said.
The 3rd Annual Environmental Leader & Energy Manager Conference takes place May 15 – 17, 2018 in Denver. Learn more here.