2Sustain

Citing increased pressure from shareholders, half of the multinationals in a recent study said they expect, in the future, to select their suppliers based upon carbon performance.

The research, commissioned by Carbon Trust Advisory, consisted of phone interviews with 100 organizations that have at least 1,000 employees worldwide. The data shows that: (more…)

Sprint Nextel is now the first wireless carrier to complete and publicly release a comprehensive Scope 3 supply-chain assessment.

As you may recall, emissions are defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative as:

• Scope 1: All direct GHG emissions.

• Scope 2: Indirect GHG emissions from consumption of purchased electricity, heat or steam.

• Scope 3: Other indirect emissions, such as the extraction and production of purchased materials and fuels, transport-related activities in vehicles not owned or controlled by the reporting entity, electricity-related activities (e.g. T&D losses) not covered in Scope 2, outsourced activities, waste disposal, etc.

Sprint partnered with Trucost for the analysis, which examines Sprint’s total supply chain carbon emissions and then quantifies and identifies “hot spots” where the company can focus its efforts.

“Measuring and understanding carbon footprints is the first step toward managing and reducing them,” Cary Krosinsky, Trucost senior vice president, said. “Carbon emissions are increasingly resulting in financial costs for companies, and by undertaking such a thorough carbon assessment of its supply chain, Sprint Nextel is taking a major step toward effectively reducing its overall carbon footprint.”

Trucost’s analysis covered 98 percent of Sprint’s supply-chain expenditure, and the report includes these interesting findings: (more…)

Building on the success of the program it introduced in the US last fall, UPS has expanded carbon neutral shipping to 35 countries and territories across Europe, Asia and the Americas.

That means, starting this week, millions more UPS customers now have the option of paying a small fee to calculate and offset the carbon emissions associated with their shipments. (In the United States, the small fee ranges from $0.05 for a ground package and $0.20 for an air package to $0.75 for an international package. Outside the United States, UPS says the small flat fee will vary slightly by country depending on the type of service selected and the origin and destination of the shipment.) (more…)

First off, here is a good blog entry on the “Bush 2025” goals announcement from my friends over at Environmental Leader — the headline is so outlandish that it almost seems like it is from The Onion.

In my opinion, the elephant in the room in the global climate change debate is China. While both China and the United States each produces more than one-fifth of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, China’s emissions are soaring: China’s annual increase in emissions is greater than Germany’s total annual emissions.

(more…)