A December 2008 study by Ceres and the RiskMetrics Group finds that IBM, British retailer Tesco plc, Dell, Johnson & Johnson, and Nike rank highest among large global companies addressing climate and energy-related challenges while niche retailer Abercrombie & Fitch apparently has not factored these issues or mitigated its carbon footprint, at all.
Ceres/RiskMetrics Group studied how 48 US-based and 15 non-US-based consumer product and information technology companies are preparing themselves to face and overcome (their impact) on climate change.
- A Climate Change Governance Framework was developed to evaluate each of the 63 companies in terms of their corporate board oversight, management execution, public disclosure, emissions accounting, and strategic planning and performance. The study weighted most-heavily each company’s efforts in strategic planning and performance (actual results).
- IBM led all companies evaluated with a score of 79 points. The global IT giant’s ambitious efforts at cutting CO2 emissions and energy usage were cited. British retailer Tesco plc (78 points) was cited for, among other things, its employment of wind-turbines to power operations.
At the other end of the spectrum, specialty retailer Abercrombie & Fitch scored zero points; the study could not determine a single initiative in which Ab Fitch addressed global climate change or mitigated the company’s carbon footprint.
Ironically, Ab Fitch is a popular shopping destination for Millennials, the environmentally-conscious cohort currently entering the workforce, en masse.
Companies demonstrating leadership in climate change will benefit by attracting the greenest of green business executives.
