Food Services Industry Hammered On Climate Performance

Google, Anheuser-Busch and Levi Strauss had the largest score improvement, each jumping over 20 points, in Climate Counts’ second annual Company Scorecard. Improvement was broad, however with the average company score improving 22 percent over the past year. Nike passed last year’s high scorer, Canon, to become the top scored company.

Eighty-four percent of the scored companies -among them some of the world’s largest-made improvements in their efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and to make information about those actions easily accessible to consumers. The Scorecard scores 56 major corporations in well-known consumer sectors - from apparel to electronics to fast food - on their commitment to reversing climate change.

It wasn’t all good climate news. Five companies scored one or zero points: Jones Apparel Group, Burger King, Darden Restaurants (which owns the popular chains Red Lobster and Olive Garden), Yum! Brands (parent to Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC) and Wendy’s.

The Food Services sector had the lowest average (11.5 out of 100) of any of the eight sectors measured with smallest overall improvement.

Overall the average company score increased from 30.6 in 2007 to 39.3 this year - a 22% increase. Twenty-three companies were ranked as “striding” (making progress toward change) vs. 18 last year. Ten companies are still ranked as “stuck” vs. 18 last year.

The Household Products sector represented the largest overall sector improvement, with an average score increase of 13.66.

The companies were scored on a scale from zero to 100, based on 22 criteria that fall within four benchmarks: whether they measure their carbon footprint; what efforts they have made to reduce their own climate impact; whether they support or oppose global warming legislation; and what they disclose to the public about their work to address climate change.