Climate Counts rates companies’ environmental practices for consumers, investors

By Francesca Rheannon

Apple is “bursting with pride” to be associated with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al Gore. “Al has put his heart and soul into…alerting and educating us all on the climate crisis,” the company said in a statement posted to Apple’s website just after the winners were announced.

But Gore, a Director on Apple’s board, may be not so proud of the company’s own record on climate change. Apple came in last among electronics companies in a rating by ClimateCounts.org, a nonprofit organization. Funded by Stonyfield Farm and unveiled in the spring, the project rates companies on what they are doing to combat climate change.

Apple’s score was two out of a possible 100. The best-rated company, Canon, came in at 77.

Climate Counts characterized Cannon as “striding,” Dell as “starting” and Apple as “stuck.”

Climate Counts inaugurated its first year by examining 56 firms in seven consumer-based industries, ranging from apparel to media. The scoring process used several publicly available sources, such as annual reports, news articles and company websites.

Companies were informed early in the process that they would be scored, said Climate Counts Director Wood Turner. “We gave them an opportunity to either confirm the sources we were going to be using or offer any additional information that they would provide to a member of the general public if they also requested it.”

Assigned three labels—“striding,” “starting” or “stuck”—companies were judged on four benchmarks: reviewing their carbon footprint; reducing their impact on global warming; supporting public policy to stop climate change; and public disclosure of their efforts to fight climate change.

The Criteria
GreenOrder, a consulting firm that advises companies on sustainability strategies, developed 22 criteria within the four benchmarks. The criteria were taken from protocols devised by academic experts, environmental organizations and sustainable business groups, such as the World Business Council on Sustainable Development.

Caryn Mintz, an associate at GreenOrder, said the first step for companies should be to inventory their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and then set goals to reduce them, picking off “low hanging fruit.”
But “we wanted to emphasize companies achieving goals, beyond the setting of them,” Mintz said. She said the Climate Counts’ findings were verified through several rounds of iteration to ensure accuracy.

Consumers, Investors, Companies
Although the project primarily is geared toward consumers and investors, companies may find Climate Counts useful on two fronts. First, it can help them look inward in evaluating their own efforts by using the criteria as guidelines for best practices.

For example, Canon got high marks for completing a comprehensive, multiyear series of inventories of GHGE, with precise calculations using standard protocols. Canon included emissions from multiple indirect—as well as direct—sources, and they were verified by a qualified third party. It also met its goals for reducing emissions. On the other hand, those reductions were solely intensity-based, netting the company a zero on “absolute vs. intensity-based reductions.”

Second, Climate Counts offers a chance for companies to look outward. “As we continue to score on a regular basis, we hope that more companies will decide to use our annual rankings to engage with the public in a regular way,” Turner said, adding that a good score from a neutral organization can produce a positive message.

Poses Risks
And, although a low score poses risks to a company’s public image, it can also spur action that improves the company’s standing over time, he said.

Stonyfield, which funds Climate Counts, scored a modest 63, but Turner said the process has already helped Stonyfield identify areas for improvement.

And who knows? Maybe Gore will use Climate Counts to prod Apple into going from “stuck” to “striding.”

Francesca Rheannon co-hosts Corporate Watchdog Radio, a weekly show about corporate social responsibility. Rheannon’s work has appeared on NPR and SocialFunds.com.