First-ever ranking of consumer and technological companies on climate change strategies
While progress is being made, consumer and technology companies still have more to do in confronting the business challenges posed by climate change, according to a report published on December 11 by the Ceres investor coalition and authored by RiskMetrics Group. The report analyzes climate change governance practices at 63 of the world’s largest retail, pharmaceutical, technology, apparel and other consumer-facing companies.
IT companies such as IBM, Dell and Intel were especially strong in product and service innovation, particularly with regards to making their operations, data centres and product lines substantially more energy efficient. IBM’s energy conservation programs saved the company nearly $20 million in 2007 alone.
Contact: Ceres www.ceres.org
The report by CERES, on progress by consumer and technology companies in implementing climate change strategies, follows on the heels of similar study published by EIRIS in August of last year, which focused on investors’ role in encouraging companies to do more to address climate change. Although each took very different approaches to reviewing corporate climate change strategies, both have come to very similar conclusions. The first is that there is clearly a strategic push by leading companies to address climate change across a variety of sectors. Companies are taking the threats and opportunities posed by climate change more seriously than ever before. Walmart is one such company that has begun transitioning to a low carbon business model, beginning in 2006 with the launch of its Sustainability 360 initiative. This was aimed at improving environmental performance in all aspects of Wal-Mart’s business, including climate change performance. Walmart’s efforts to address climate change have also extended to its first tier suppliers and the company is now a member for the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Supply Chain programme. Needless to say, a major part of this strategy has been about reducing costs, both in its own operations and in its suppliers, and the company has saved over $100 million since this initiative was launched. Like Walmart, a number of other consumer brands have begun to incorporate carbon reduction commitments into their business strategy and are reaping some of the benefits of doing so. These include not just financial benefits arising from improved efficiency, but the reputational benefits that can at times lead brand or product differentiation amongst consumers as well. The fast pace of change in consumer and market expectations with respect to responsible business conduct on climate change, and the significant lead time involved in developing a coherent carbon reduction strategy means that early movers are at an advantage. The CERES report affirms the notion that a variety of leading companies and their investors have begun to wake up to this idea. Perhaps others will soon follow.
World in accord on climate action, according to HSBC survey
While governments may still be dithering on making commitments to tackle climate change, the majority of the public in a broad cross section of countries want to see action now. This is the key finding of a survey carried out by HSBC which asked people in 11 countries about how seriously they viewed the threats posed by climate change. Almost half rated climate change as a more serious problem than the current economic crisis. The survey’s findings contradict often held views from policymakers whom frequently blame a lack of public appetite for the costs associated with reducing emissions as a reason not to plough ahead with carbon-cutting policies.
Contact: HSBC www.hsbc.com
Obama’s new team raises hope for US environment
President-elect Barack Obama announced on December 8 key members of his energy and environment team, including Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy. Dr. Chu is director of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at University of California, Berkeley. Winner of the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997, Dr. Chu served on the technical staff at AT&T Bell Labs (1978 –1987) and was a professor in the Physics and Applied Physics Departments at Stanford University (1987 – 2004). The choice of those with strong science and regulatory backgrounds was welcomed in the environmental community.
Contact: The Office of the President Elect www.change.gov
Carbon Trust and CBI announce partnership
CBI and The Carbon Trust announced, on December 4, that they have partnered to work with business and government to maximise the opportunities that the move to a low carbon economy will create for UK companies and deliver significant carbon savings that will help us meet our national targets. The partnership will promote the business case for immediate concerted action on climate change to the wider CBI membership by sharing expertise and highlighting opportunities for all businesses which both improve energy efficiency and deliver financial savings against the bottom line. In addition the CBI and Carbon Trust are currently working on reducing the carbon footprint and associated costs of commercial buildings.
Contact: The Carbon Trust www.carbontrust.co.uk
Banks launch The Climate Principles
Credit Agricole, HSBC, Munich Re, Standard Chartered and Swiss Re have joined with the environmental coalition The Climate Group, to launch a new code, dubbed “The Climate Principles,” to guide best practices for financial institutions seeking to address climate change. The initiative was announced on December 3 and is similar to another financial sector collaborative group on CO2 called “The Carbon Principles”, launched in February, backed by Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, and Wells Fargo.
Contact: The Climate Group www.theclimategroup.com
EU to consider CO2 labelling for products
EU environment ministers have asked the European Commission to find ways of calculating carbon footprints and assessing environmental performance of products throughout their life cycles, but the idea has attracted criticism from industry. The ministers reaffirmed their support for the development of common EU measures to promote green public procurement, but underlined that it would first be necessary to reduce the current fragmentation of incentives across the internal market.
Contact: The European Council www.consilium.europa.eu
Top law firms declare their carbon footprint
On December 11 law firms and the Law Society of England and Wales unveiled their individual carbon footprints. The firms and the Law Society are publicly reporting their results simultaneously, in the same place and using the same methodology, having measured their carbon footprint using the Legal Sector Alliance (LSA) Protocol. The eighteen firms and the Law Society are founding members of the Legal Sector Alliance, an inclusive movement of law firms and organisations, including Linklaters and Allen Overy, committed to working collaboratively to take action on climate change by reducing their carbon footprint and adopting environmentally sustainable practices.
Contact: The Legal Sector Alliance www.legalsectoralliance.com
Airlines seek ways to minimize impact
As the airline industry comes under increasing financial and environmental pressure, industry executives are experimenting with a number of methods in an attempt to demonstrate a proactive approach to minimizing their impact on the environment. Virgin America, the California-based airline, has partnered with Carbonfund.org, the nation’s leading nonprofit carbon offset provider, to allow travellers offset the environmental impact of their flight. Meanwhile, on December 19, an Emirates airline dubbed the worlds greenest flight landed in San Francisco from Dubai. Green measures taken included washing the plane to reduce drag and planning a special departure route to assist the plane in reaching its cruising altitude as quickly as possible. Elsewhere, Air New Zealand recently experimented with a fight using biofuel – the first flight of its kind to use a 50-50 biofuel mix (Virgin recently flew from London to Amsterdam using a 20% blend). The test flight was a joint initiative between Air New Zealand, Boeing, Rolls Royce and UPO, which is owned by Honeywell.
Contact: Virgin America www.virginamerica.com
Emirates www.emirates.com
Air New Zealand www.airnewzealand.com
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