 | June 8, 2009 |  |  | | | | THIS ISSUE'S SPONSOR
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Taking Care of Business
By Joel Makower
The nonprofit group Climate Counts last week released its latest rankings of companies' climate performance and commitment, this one showing that Big Pharma seems to have found a prescription for climate leadership. The pharmaceutical sector as a whole outperformed 13 other sectors, with more than 87 percent of the companies earning the highest rating. (I sit on Climate Counts' board of directors, though I have no direct involvement in the company-rating process.)
Climate Counts is hardly the only group to rank companies on their environmental performance. Those in the business info sector refer to their own version of the "Three R's": Ratings, Rankings, and Recommendations. Greenpeace ranks electronics companies on their green practices. Others rank and rate everything from green-power purchasers to fast-food chains to eco-friendly cities. And, of course, the world's most sustainable corporations.
Given the lack of a singular standard for green business practices and achievement, such piecemeal rankings will likely remain the state of the art for some time. Suffice to say, this is vexing for most companies (at least those who don't land near the top of the rankings), who may find themselves scrutinized by standards set by outsiders whose methodologies don't sync with the metrics the companies use to judge themselves.
Call it death by disclosure.
Companies, for their part, seem to be increasingly public about their environmental goals, setting longer-term horizons for their achievements than in the past. This week we report on Kodak's new green goals. In the past month or so we've noted goals publicly announced by Frito-Lay, Nokia, Wal-Mart, and Waste Management, among others.
That seems to be the New Green Gospel: Judge thyself, lest ye be judged in your stead.
The (Neck) Ties That Bind: Associate Editor Tilde Herrera, reporting on the lastest Carbon Salary Survey, reports that "Professionals in climate change-related fields are more likely to be male, highly educated, well-paid and not worried about losing their jobs." About three-quarters are male, earning an average annual salary of $79,000, while women earned an average annual income of $65,000. Must-See TV: Videos of sessions from Greener By Design are now available for your viewing pleasure.
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| | Featured News | Why the Ethanol Debate Isn't Helping Anyone
| By Noam Ross
|  Another ugly battle is raging in the ethanol wars. Sadly, while everyone is arguing over whether ethanol is bad, no one is talking about how to make it better. The worst impacts of ethanol occur far from Iowa or Washington in the forests that are burned down to respond to demands for cropland.... Read More
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| | | | | FEATURED RESOURCES
Water Energy and Climate: A Contribution from the Business Community
This report discusses how businesses can manage risk in regard to water, energy, and other critical resources that affect climate change.
Reclaiming Transparency in a Changing Climate
This report from Ceres, the Environmental Defense Fund and the Center for Energy and Environmental Security looks at how many -- or how few -- companies are reporting climate-related risks in their annual reports, and breaks down reporting on a sector-by-sector basis.
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