26 April 2010

A Greener Corporate America

Businesses and environmental groups find common ground on climate change

 

Walmart supercenter in Hangzhou, China. Walmart wants to eliminate 20 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain.

Walmart supercenter in Hangzhou, China. Walmart wants to eliminate 20 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain.

By Karin Rives
Staff Writer

Washington — Why would Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, team up with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), a leading advocacy group, to talk carbon dioxide emissions?

It’s simple: being green is good for the company bottom line. Lower energy costs help businesses trim expenses. A green corporate profile also attracts environmentally minded customers, which could translate into higher sales.

With climate change now rising to the top of the global agenda, some corporate leaders in the United States are voluntarily implementing their own emission policies — and they’re working side by side with leading environmental groups to meet their goals.

“We know that our global environmental challenges are too big and widespread for governments, advocacy groups and individuals to solve alone,” Gwen Ruta, EDF’s vice president for corporate partnerships, told America.gov. “Corporations play a vital role, and increasingly we’re demonstrating that what’s good for the planet is also good for business.”

WALMART’S GLOBAL CLIMATE PLAN

In February, Walmart announced that it would slash 20 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the lifecycle of products sold in its stores by 2015. The company, which has more than 8,000 discount department stores and 2 million employees in 15 countries, has been working with EDF to develop a strategy for reducing emissions from its vast global supply chain.

It includes setting energy-efficiency and other environmental targets for 30,000 factories in China that produce Walmart goods. The retailer is also working with a university-based organization called the Sustainability Consortium to develop an index that one day will allow shoppers to see the environmental impact of products sold in Walmart stores.

 

Solar panels at Google’s California headquarters helped the company become carbon neutral in 2007.

Solar panels at Google’s California headquarters helped the company become carbon neutral in 2007.

“Reducing carbon in the life cycle of our products will often mean reducing energy use,” said Mike Duke, Walmart’s president and chief executive, when announcing his company’s plan. “That will mean greater efficiency and — with the rising cost of energy — lower costs, making our business stronger and more competitive.”

When a large corporation such as Walmart takes steps to address emissions, Ruta said, the world listens.

“Walmart has its own gravitational pull when it comes to environmental potential,” she said. “With 200 million customers a week, more than 100,000 suppliers and enormous market clout, Walmart can both create and reward new markets for renewable energy, recycled or recyclable materials, and new packaging and product designs.”

COCA-COLA TO ELIMINATE HFC’S

Late last year, Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest drink maker, announced that it would phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in its 10 million vending machines and refrigerated units worldwide by 2015. HFC chemicals account for only 2 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions today, but their effect on climate change — per pound of emission — is 1,400 times greater than that of carbon dioxide. With the use of HFCs on the rise globally (PDF, 340KB), climate experts are increasingly sounding the alarm about the use of such chemicals.

Coca-Cola’s pledge to eliminate HFCs will reduce the company’s greenhouse gas emissions by 52.5 million tons of equivalent carbon dioxide by 2025 and save 15 percent of its energy costs, according to the company’s president, Muhtar Kent. That, he said, will be equal to taking 11 million cars off the road for one year.

“Even in these challenging times, we believe this is the right long-term investment for our business,” Kent said at a briefing held with representatives from Greenpeace, the environmental group that worked with Coca-Cola to craft the HFC plan.

COMPANIES SET VOLUNTARY CARBON TARGETS

After search engine giant Google became carbon neutral in 2007, a slew of large corporations such as Dell, Nike and Timberland followed suit and established their own voluntary carbon neutrality goals. Companies that do set such targets, while still in a minority among U.S. corporations, are trying to stay a step ahead of an international climate treaty and federal legislation that may regulate businesses’ emissions, reported Greenbiz.com in The State of Green Business 2010.

These business leaders, EDF’s Ruta said, “get it.”

(This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov)