Climate Counts’ Rankings Improve 14%

by | Dec 8, 2010

This article is included in these additional categories:

The average climate commitment score of 90 top companies improved 14 percent year-on-year in rankings by a non-profit organization.

Nike came out on top for the third straight year in Climate Counts’ assessment of companies’ actions to address climate change.

But other companies are closing in on Nike’s lead, and eleven businesses now score over 75 points out of 100.
SunTrust and SkyWest Air tie for last place, with two points each.

The rankings score the largest companies by revenue in sixteen sectors. Climate Counts uses 22 criteria to assess emissions reduction, support for climate legislation, and customer communication.

In the latest edition, five companies – CBS, Alaska Air, Clorox, Capital One and PNC Financial Services – improved their scores by 20 points or more. PNC rose from just 3 points to 43.

Since Climate Counts first launched the rankings in 2007, the average score has risen from 31 to 50.1 points.
But eight businesses scored fewer than ten points on the latest scorecard. They are Liz Claiborne, Viacom, Wendy’s Arby’s Group, AirTran, ExpressJet, SkyWestAir and banks SunTrust and Regions.

“Corporate climate commitment has graduated,” Climate Counts executive director Wood Turner said. “It is now the norm for well-managed, forward-thinking businesses.”

“When we launched four years ago, we issued a clear challenge, and companies appear ready to see the leadership bar raised.”

The organization is encouraging consumers to buy their holiday gift from companies scoring over 50 points.

Climate Counts praised 21 of the companies for vocally supporting policies that the organization says would reduce global warming-related pollution. These include The Gap, which opposed California’s defeated Proposition 23. The measure proposed a delay to implementation of the state’s clean air act.

Climate Counts’ top-ranked companies in each sector are:
Airlines: Southwest Airlines
Apparel: Nike
Commercial Banks: Bank of America
Beverages/Beer: Anheuser-Busch InBev
Consumer Shipping: UPS
Electronics: Hewlett-Packard
Food Products: (tie) Stonyfield Farm, Unilever
Food Services: Starbucks
Hotels: Marriott
Household Products: L’Oreal
Internet/Software: Microsoft
Media: General Electric

A Climate Counts scorecard published in August ranked an additional four sectors: pharmaceutical, furnishings, toys and large appliances.

Last year’s edition of the scorecard can be found here.

Additional articles you will be interested in.

Stay Informed

Get E+E Leader Articles delivered via Newsletter right to your inbox!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Share This