Report: Dell ranks high, Whole Foods low on formal oversight of climate impact
By Dan Zehr
A report issued today gives Dell high marks for corporate oversight of its impact on climate change. Whole Foods Market didnt fare as well.
Dell ranked third among the 63 companies included in the study, which was released by the Ceres investor coalition and authored by the RiskMetrics Group. The computer maker earned a score of 77 out of 100.
More than half the companies in the report scored less than 50, and Whole Foods was among them with a 27. It was third among the grocery and drug retailers included in the report, but well behind the 78 given to Tesco, which topped that sector and placed second overall.
Rather than measure a specific climate impact, Ceres said the report was developed to pay particular attention to how corporate executives and board directors are addressing their governance systems to minimize climate-related risks.
IBM led the report with a 79. Other notable scores included Intel (72), Wal-Mart (69), Hewlett-Packard (62), Apple (28) and Abercrombie & Fitch (0).
A summary of the report and the companies scores are available here.
Ceres and RiskMetrics gave Whole Foods high marks for building stores that use green power and its plans to reduce emissions from its truck fleet by switching to biodiesel and improving the trucks aerodynamics.
Dell ranked among the overall leaders in three main categories: governance, operations and supply chain. It did not rank among the leaders in the products and services category.
Ceres noted the computer makers development of an executive council to track green initiatives (and CEO Michael Dells seat at that table). It also noted Dells publicly stated goals and strategies to offset the companys carbon impact, reduce the energy it and its products consume, and establish standards for its supply chain.
