2Sustain

In April 2006, Toyota began working to meet the guidelines of its second consolidated Environmental Action Plan (EAP), an aggressive five-year roadmap for improving and enhancing sustainability efforts across the company’s North America operations.

Last week, Toyota reported on its progress and affirmed its commitment to sustainability with the release of its 2011 North America Environmental Report.

Among the energy consumption, recycling and resource management achievements outlined in the 2011 report: (more…)

Each year for the past decade, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has published a report examining carbon reduction activities at the world’s largest public corporations.

For the first time ever in this ten-year history, the 2011 edition of the annual Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Global 500 report revealed that the majority of the companies have climate change actions embedded as part of their business strategy.

The report, titled Accelerating Low Carbon Growth, analyzed disclosures from 396 of the world’s largest companies and found that:

• 68 percent have climate change at the heart of business strategies, compared with 48 percent in 2010.

• Nearly half (45 percent) reported reduced greenhouse gas emissions as a result of emissions reduction activities –up significantly from 19 percent in 2010.

• 74 percent of Global 500 respondents reported emissions reduction targets, up from 65 percent in 2010

• The majority of respondents (93 percent) reported board or senior executive oversight for climate change (up from 85 percent in 2010), demonstrating the importance of climate change as a management issue.

It’s also most interesting to note that the report also identified a correlation between higher stock market performance over time, and representation on CDP’s Carbon Performance Leadership Index (CPLI) and the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI). More specifically:

• Companies with a strategic focus on climate change provided investors with approximately double the average total return of the Global 500 from January 2005 to May 2011.

As Paul Simpson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, points out this linkage puts companies that manage and reduce carbon emissions at a clear competitive advantage.

“The improved financial performance of companies with high carbon performance is a clear indicator that it makes good business sense to manage and reduce carbon emissions,” he said. “This is a win win for business – the short ROIs many emissions reducing activities have, can help increase profitability. Companies yet to take action on climate change will have to work hard to remain competitive as we head towards an increasingly resourced constrained, low carbon economy.”

The Carbon Performance Leadership Index and Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index are revised annually based on company submissions and present the leaders of the Global 500 in carbon performance and disclosure respectively. The top 10 best performing companies on both measures this year are: (more…)

Launched in 1999, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) were the first global indexes tracking the financial performance of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide.

Each year, SAM, an investment boutique focused exclusively on sustainability investing, invites the world’s 2,500 largest companies, measured by free-float market capitalization, from the 57 sectors to report on their sustainability performance. The result of the Corporate Sustainability Assessment provides an in-depth analysis of economic, environmental and social criteria, such as corporate governance, water-related risks and stakeholder relations, with a special focus on industry-specific risks and opportunities.

“The DJSI have become the gold standard in recognizing the world’s corporate sustainability leader,” Michael A. Petronella, President, Dow Jones Indexes, said. “These indexes have become an invaluable market tool for those seeking to support companies that are committed to creating and adopting sustainable business practices.”

The results of this year’s assessment were announced last week, and the data shows some very interesting changes to the DJSI World. Overall, 41 companies will be added, and 23 firms will be deleted, resulting in a total of 342 components.

The largest additions (by free-float market capitalization) to the DJSI World include Medtronic Inc., Schneider Electric S.A. and Societe Generale S.A. The largest deletions (by free-float market capitalization) are Coca-Cola Co., Hewlett-Packard Co. and EnCana Corp.

The changes will become effective with the opening of trading on September 19, 2011.

Here are the 2011-2012 DJSI supersector leaders: (more…)

Last month, Dunkin’ Brands Group, Inc., the parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, released Serving Responsibly, the company’s first CSR report. It offers a detailed overview of Dunkin’ Brands’ current CSR initiatives as well as key areas of focus for the future, such as nutrition, sourcing and packaging.

Serving Responsibly outlines Dunkin’ Brands’ ongoing commitment to grow its business in a sustainable manner, while taking into consideration the needs of guests, employees, franchisees, local communities and the environment.

Among the highlights, the report states that Dunkin’ Donuts was the first national brand to sell espresso beverages made exclusively with 100 percent Fair Trade Certified™ coffee, helping farmers and their families earn a better income and invest in the quality of their harvest. By the end of 2010, Dunkin Brands purchased nearly 26 million pounds of Fair Trade Certified^TM coffee and delivered approximately $1.9 million in premiums back to farming communities.

In addition, back in 2008, Dunkin’ Brands opened its first “green” restaurant, in St. Petersburg, Florida, which achieved the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification in 2010. This restaurant also boasts the following eco-friendly features: (more…)

Late last month, UPS released the latest edition of its annual sustainability report, and once again, the company has managed to reduce the amount of fuel it’s using to deliver each package in the United States.

Interestingly, the company’s US package volume rose 1.8 percent in 2010 compared to 2009, and yet UPS reduced the amount of fuel consumed per package by 3.3 percent. The company attributed the improvement to:

• deploying the right vehicle on the right routes,
• using technology to minimize the miles driven and
• focusing on how behavior can affect fuel use.

All told, technology has enabled UPS to avoid driving more than 63.5 million miles in 2010 with an associated emissions avoidance of 68,000 metric tonnes. As remarkable as it sounds, UPS estimates that distance is the equivalent of 251,987 trips to the International Space Station.

How, exactly, has the company used technology to reduce fuel consumption? According to a press release, UPS has specifically improved: (more…)