Amazon.com, eBay rank below Microsoft, Yahoo for global warming efforts
mongabay.com
June 20, 2007





Amazon.com and eBay rank at the bottom of the list of internet companies when it comes to reducing their impact on climate, reports a new analysis from Climate Counts, a nonprofit that works to promote responsible climate policy among corporations. Microsoft and Yahoo rank at the top of the five Internet and software companies rated by the group, while Google is in the middle of the pack.

The scorecard aims to make consumers aware of a company's track record on climate change. Companies were scored on a scale from one to 100, based on 22 criteria 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.



The List [source ClimateCounts.org]

Higher rank denotes more action on climate change
Canon77
Nike73
Unilever71
IBM70
Toshiba66
Stonyfield Farm63
General Electric61
Motorola60
Hewlett-Packard59
Coca-Cola Company57
News Corporation57
Procter & Gamble53
Sony51
Group Danone50
SAB Miller48
Starbucks46
L'Oreal45
Kraft Foods43
Nestlé42
Dell41
Kimberly-Clark41
Colgate-Palmolive40
Gap Inc.39
General Mills37
Hitachi36
Yahoo!36
Siemens34
Samsung33
Microsoft31
Anheuser-Busch29
Nokia29
PepsiCo26
Disney24
Kellogg24
McDonald's22
Molson Coors Brewing20
Google17
Liz Claiborne15
Avon11
Time Warner10
ConAgra Foods6
Limited Brands5
Viacom3
Apple2
Sara Lee2
VF Corporation2
eBay2
Clorox1
Levi Strauss1
Yum! Brands1
Amazon.com0
Burger King0
CBS0
Darden Restaurants0
Jones Apparel Group0
Wendy's International0
"Global warming is real. We have 10 years to do something significant about it, and we can," said Gary Hirshberg, chair of Climate Counts and CEO of organic yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm. "Business must play a significant role in stopping global warming, and we believe the key to influencing companies lies in the hands of the consumer. With the Scorecard, consumers now have the power to make good climate decisions in their everyday purchases."

"Consumers are beginning to understand that every time they open their wallets, they affect our climate future, but taking positive action has been hard to do. Coke or Pepsi? Big Mac or Whopper? Levi's or Gap?" said Joel Makower, chair and executive editor of Greener World Media, producer of popular Web sites GreenBiz.com and ClimateBiz.com. "The Climate Counts Company Scorecard makes this connection possible by giving consumers the information they need to make climate-conscious decisions."

The scorecard, which is available via text message and the Internet, shows that Canon, Nike and Unilever rate the best among the 56 companies scored. Amazon.com, Wendy's, Burger King, Jones Apparel, CBS and Darden Restaurants (owner of Red Lobster and Olive Garden) have a score of zero, while Apple Computer, eBay.com and Levi Strauss are also low flyers on the list.

"When we looked at the field, we saw that no one was grading companies on climate from the consumer point of view," said Wood Turner, Climate Counts Project Director. "Most of the recent attention has been on what people and families can do to reduce their own climate footprint, such as buying compact fluorescent light bulbs or energy-efficient appliances. But consumers have even more power. They can motivate companies to take meaningful action to fight global warming. We've created this tool to help people flex their consumer muscle."



Related articles

Google to be carbon neutral by year end -- 06/20/2007
Google Inc. aims to be carbon neutral by the end of 2007, according to a statement posted on the Official Google Blog. The search giant plans to fight global warming by investing in and using renewable energy sources; reducing energy consumption by maximizing efficiency, and purchasing carbon offsets for the greenhouse gas emissions that it cannot reduce directly.

Google, Intel seek greener computers -- 06/13/2007 Google, Intel, and other tech giants announced an energy efficiency drive develop "greener" computers that use 50 percent less power by 2010. The plan, dubbed the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, seeks to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming..





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