2Sustain

For the third year in a row, UPS has earned the top score in the consumer shipping sector on the annual Climate Counts scorecard.

UPS earned its No. 1 spot with a score of 80, edging out competitors Deutsche Post World Net/DHL, the US Postal Service and FedEx, which ranked second, third and fourth, respectively.

Among the 136 companies ranked by Climate Counts, UPS also shared the 11th highest score across all industries alongside Sony, Nokia and AB Electrolux.

“This recognition is significant because Climate Counts rigorously evaluates performance rather than corporate marketing claims,” said Scott Wicker, UPS’s chief sustainability officer. “UPS’s repeated and consistent top ranking in the shipping segment highlights our efforts to measure, manage and reduce our carbon footprint while offering consumers more choices that support their commitment to the environment.”

As part of their corporate decarbonization strategy, UPS implemented proprietary routing technology to assist drivers in maximizing the efficiency of their delivery route. (more…)

Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corporation, announced last week that the company has become carbon neutral across all of its global operations.

In a letter to his employees, Murdoch says that reaching this major sustainability milestone puts News Corporation on the path to becoming the “innovative, regenerative business we want to be.” He writes:

In the long term, we aim to grow our business without growing our carbon footprint, to power our operations with clean electricity, to minimize solid waste to landfill from our production operations, and to continue to engage our audiences on sustainability issues through partnerships and content of the highest caliber.

Murdoch also outlines how the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability has resulted in significant business benefits. For instance, News Corporation has: (more…)

The federal government is dragging its heels on meaningful climate and energy legislation. Fortunately, though, many leading corporations are refusing to be as complacent.

Just last week, the non-profit organization Climate Counts released its annual review of 90 top companies, and the results show that corporate climate commitment is increasingly becoming the norm for well-managed, forward-thinking businesses.

Each year, Climate Counts scores the largest companies (by revenue) in sixteen industry sectors on their actions to address climate change. (Scores for four other sectors were released early this year). The companies are scored on a 0-to-100 point scale based on 22 criteria that measure companies’ efforts to assess their own climate footprint, reduce their emissions, support (or block) progress on major climate legislation, and communicate their efforts clearly and comprehensively to consumers.

This year, overall scores improved 14 percent over 2009. Nike had the top score for the third straight year, but Climate Counts reports that other companies are closing the gap. For example,  11 companies now score over 75 points out of a possible 100. Five “surging” companies improved their scores by 20 or more points—led by commercial bank PNC Financial Services’ 40-point improvement. Since Climate Counts’ first scores were launched in 2007, the average company score has improved from 31 points to 50.1 points.

This year’s Climate Counts sector leaders are: (more…)

The newly updated Climate Counts scorecard, released earlier this month, reveals that over the past year businesses have made some improvements with regard to sustainability issues. However, huge differences remain between sectors, and it appears that, in general terms, industry as a whole is failing to meet the climate challenge. Taken altogether, Climate Counts Executive Director Wood Turner describes the results as “disappointing.”

Here are a few of the details: (more…)

Climate Counts has released its third annual corporate climate scores for 90 well-known consumer companies.

The results show that even in the recession, leading corporations appear to be strengthening their voluntary response to climate change. In fact, Climate Counts found a 22 percent increase in scores by 81 of the companies, as well as significant gains among those previously in the index’s lowest tier.

Climate Counts uses a 22-criteria scorecard to track corporate climate action in four key areas: (more…)