Climate Counts is once again honored to be a beneficiary of TWO amazing climate rides – Climate Ride NYC to DC (May 19 - 23) and Climate Ride California (September 9 - 13).

This year, not only is it possible to donate and commit to fundraising on behalf of your favorite environmental organizations, but you can also sign up to RIDE for the Climate Counts Team.

For more details on how you can help support Climate Counts, contact project director Mike Bellamente at 603.862.0121 or mbellamente@climatecounts.org.

Thank you for in advance for supporting the cause!

-The Climate Counts Team

So visibly absent is the subject of climate change from ongoing stump speeches that New Hampshire scientists –representing institutions such as the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth–have banded together in a plea for republican candidates to, at the very least, accept the reality of shifting global temperatures.

In reviewing the front-running republican websites, not one even mentions climate change, let alone sets out a plan to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases (GHGs) we emit as a nation (U.S. being the second largest emitter of GHGs worldwide).

This signals a prime opportunity for leading-edge U.S. corporations to ordain themselves as the voice of reason.   While iconic symbols of American industry (IBM, Bank of America, Nike, and Levi’s for starters) are taking progressive action on climate change, candidates who purport themselves as 21^st century businessmen refuse to even acknowledge the science of humanity’s biggest challenge.  This leaves one to wonder just how much of a lagging indicator politicians truly are to the status quo.

Major corporations are no longer just playing to the green crowd because of its popularity.  Climate change is being addressed at the highest levels of business because it poses an immediate risk to operations, supply chains and future investments.  A look at the 2011 Carbon Disclosure Project Global 500 report reveals that 85% of respondents to last year’s survey reported business risks associated with climate change.

So why isn’t there more coordinated vocalization from the private sector demanding that presidential candidates address the issue?

To be sure, groups such as Ceres’ Businesses for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP) are valiantly attempting to move the needle on Capitol Hill, but perhaps it is time to bring corporate activism to the level of campaign contributions.  Since the U.S. Supreme Court removed the ceiling in 2010 on the amount corporations are legally allowed to spend on campaign donations, the next logical step, it would seem, is for businesses affected by climate change risk to invest in presidential candidates who reflect those interests.

It is well understood that this country is in need of an economic kick-start, and that any plans for job creation will appeal equally to the left, the right and the coveted independent swing vote in this year’s election.   What has become less clear, however, is why the quest for clean energy and a low-carbon future has become such a source of vitriol for the conservative agenda.

Climate change is no longer an issue of activism or alarmism.  It is a simple fact that deserves the attention of anyone vying for the position of Commander in Chief.

Mike Bellamente is the project director of Climate Counts, a New Hampshire-based nonprofit that annually ranks major corporations on their climate leadership.

]]> http://blog.climatecounts.org/2012/01/nh_primary/feed/ http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/11/congratulations-to-our-photo-contest-winners/ http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/11/congratulations-to-our-photo-contest-winners/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:47:01 +0000 admin http://blog.climatecounts.org/?p=144 Last month we held our Photo Contest, giving our fans a chance to submit photos of their favorite places to relax or recharge outdoors. We received some great submissions, ranging from crisp fall leafs in New Hampshire, to beach views of St. Thomas. We shared all the photos on Facebook for our fans to check out and vote for their favorites.

The winning photos included shots of Spider’s Widow Chinle in Arizona, and a floodplain in Ontario. Check out our 5 winners, picked by Facebook fans:

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone for submitting! Each winner received a Climate Counts T-shirt. If you missed out on the contest, please sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop and learn about important campaigns and giveaways.

Now that the holiday season is officially upon us, we’re encouraging all of our fans to use our Pocket Guide to make climate-conscious purchases. Our friends at Practically Green have some great suggestions for meaningful gifts that make a difference for the planet. We’ve also developed a Conscious Consumer Badge to help you incorporate more eco-minded purchases into your routine year-round.

Thanks again to all those who submitted and voted for photos!

Happy Holidays,

-The Climate Counts Team

Practically Green is a unique way for people to set targets for themselves and achieve those targets through point-based actions (e.g. 50 points for installing CFL bulbs in your home). Users can also recommend and rate products, and compare progress.

Climate Counts has teamed up with Practically Green to give our supporters the encouragement they need to eat local and organic, to adopt climate-minded spending habits, and to embrace energy-efficient home improvements such as window replacements and installing attic insulation.

We’ve also created a conscious consumer badge on Practically Green that rewards you for modifying your daily routine to make it more eco-minded, including supporting corporations that are committed to reducing their climate impact. How you travel, shop, eat, and more can drastically reduce your footprint and inspire your friends to do the same.

Take the quiz on Practically Green today!

Enjoy,

Practically Green and

The Climate Counts Team

A perfect example of the issues facing corporations arose out of a debate that took place during the COMMIT! Forum earlier this month in New York City.  Dr. Aneel Karnani, PhD at the University of Michigan, and Gerald Sullivan, President of the Vice Fund, argued that companies expending resources on corporate responsibility and sustainability destroy economic value.  Defending corporate responsibility were Paul Herman, CEO of HIP investors and Dr. Vinay Nair, PhD at Columbia Business School, who offered empirical insight on how companies that invest in environmental and social initiatives typically perform better in the market than industry averages.

For Climate Counts, an organization founded on the idea that corporations need to be seen as allies in addressing climate change, it was like being on trial.  It was a fascinating conversation, but it also seemed to miss the point.

To us it has always been clear that corporations, like consumers, have a vital role to play in protecting people and the planet.  Following another summer with record breaking heat, droughts, storms and flooding, it is clear that all members of society-corporations included-have an obligation to be a part of the climate solution.

Although it would be altruistic to think that companies would put sustainability above profit, our experience has shown that actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions can often benefit the bottom line as well.

How?

-          The customer is always right. The average consumer is becoming increasingly aware of global warming and the corresponding impacts on weather patterns, agriculture and human health. It may not be enough to force political action yet, but it’s much too large a segment of the population to ignore as a company. The growth of corporate sustainability ratings and sustainability indexes enable consumers to more readily identify which companies are adopting comprehensive approaches to sustainability, and which are simply using “green” as fortuitous marketing fodder.  In essence, the customer is still king, and environmentalism is fast becoming the mainstream for consumer purchasing.  Companies that fail to adapt will soon find themselves vulnerable to eroding market share.

-          CCR investments save money. As Dr. Karnani was quick to point out during the debate, corporate commitment to increasing operational efficiency, reducing waste and engaging employees are all elements of good business, whether it’s called corporate social responsibility or not.  Similarly, assessing and managing risks associated with climate change is also an element of good business.  In 2010, Levi Strauss & Company acknowledged in their Carbon Disclosure Project survey that 95% of their products are made from cotton which is sourced from over 110 different countries, some of which are starting to feel the impacts of climate change.  Realizing this risk and adapting to it has not only made Levi’s a pioneer in sustainable cotton harvesting and responsible water management, but it has provided a way for the company to better manage long-term costs associated with a primary input material. More simply put, Levi’s approach to climate leadership in this case benefits not only the environment, but also their long term ability to remain profitable.

-          Long-term brand protection is key.  Brand image can take years to develop and hours to destroy, as was evidenced by BP’s Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico last year.  As sustainable business practices become the norm across industry sectors, companies are increasingly enticed to adopt eco-marketing strategies without having internal sustainability goals to support them.  Consumers react well to companies on the leading edge of innovation, but tend to respond negatively to false advertising and being duped into something they thought to be true.  When New Scientist released a report last year on brand perception, it was of little surprise that some companies were perceived to be strong environmental performers, but actually weren’t.  Del Monte for example was ranked 2^nd out of 22 companies in ‘green’ perception, while ranking dead last in actual environmental performance.  As consumer and investor demand continues to grow for environmental reporting and operational transparency, companies that exhibit a false front to being green risk exposure and backlash that can drastically affect their brand integrity.

All three points are critical to understanding that CCR investments are just that-investments-and they pay dividends in increased efficiency, brand value and customer connection.

Perhaps this is why most major corporations have moved onto the bigger and more interesting questions, such as: how can our company best measure its corporate climate impact?  What are the best strategies for reducing that impact? How should our corporation be supportive of climate and energy policy? How can our company best disclose and communicate corporate actions to our customers?

-Mike Bellamente, Project Director - Climate Counts

A question and answer with Wood Turner and Mike Bellamente of Climate Counts, one of the ratings profiled in SustainAbility’s Rate the Raters research series.

1) Looking at the Phase Four paper of Rate the Raters, what resonates most with you?

Now that corporate sustainability ratings have been around awhile, SustainAbility’s Rate the Raters project helps us gauge what the future holds. The phase four paper establishes that rating standards will require greater differentiation moving forward, and that raters will need to distance themselves from the overly saturated data compilation side of the business in order to remain competitive. We at Climate Counts certainly believe this to be true; indeed, if our goal is to point the business community in the direction of climate change awareness and leadership, it should be done with clarity and efficiency, not complexity and duplication.

The report also touches on a number of themes to which no rating organization is immune, including financial viability, consistency, transparency and strategic focus. Profiling the industry on these topics allows organizations like ours to recognize how we stand in relation to the competition. This is never a bad thing. In fact, identifying where the ratings world has been and where it’s going is paramount to our continued success as an organization. Just as the companies we rate are beholden to their customers and shareholders, we too need to observe and adapt to the changes in the marketplace.

As RTR Phase Four suggests, “almost every rating system has at its core a mission to help businesses inch toward sustainability.” Big business has the reach, resources and marketing dollars to make it understood that climate change is a real issue facing today’s generations, more so than all the nonprofit climate advocacy groups combined. Having a collective partnership with raters and industry sectors alike allows for greater idea generation and less finger pointing when it comes to achieving results toward a healthier environment and a healthier, more efficient economy.

2) What makes you uncomfortable/uneasy?

We’re not sure uncomfortable is the right word, but it is interesting to see that so few raters (including CC) have been able to create a financially viable model for what is seemingly bulletproof consumer demand. As SustainAbility asserts: “Companies are linking executive compensation to performance on ratings. Asset managers are leveraging sustainability ratings and research in their investment decision making.” With indicators like this illustrating the degree to which companies are taking corporate responsibility ratings seriously, it is alarming to think how few have been able to arrive at a model that institutionalizes rating systems with consumers in a way that can be self-sustaining.

Inherent in a credible rating system that shows great promise and value, it seems, is the paradox that any judge of others would be morally compromised by generating revenue through the ratings process. Somehow, this needs to change, and hopefully Climate Counts can be a catalyst.

3) In the Washington DC workshop, we had a vigorous conversation about the need for the ratings agenda to take a closer look at quality and standards. Yet you shared perhaps a different slant on this – can you elaborate here?

Wood’s quote from the workshop:

“Rather than perseverating over the need for common criteria, quality standards, etc., we (raters, companies, consultants and others) should join together to dramatically boost demand for ratings. Greater demand will help resolve many of the issues we’re talking about today.”

If the quality of a rating standard is derived from the rating’s simplicity, transparency and consistency, we think it is those ratings that will continue to be marketable regardless of the “common criteria” that exist across multiple rating systems. Our work as raters is only as important as the companies and consumers who pay attention to them. Put another way, whether the value our industry provides is perceived or actual, companies will only continue allocating resources to sustainability if it remains in some way relevant to their bottom line. At Climate Counts, we would like to think that as awareness of climate change grows, our rating systems will become more, not less, important. That said, we continue to operate in an ever-evolving discipline that demands constant attention to the interests of consumers and businesses alike.

In many ways, our goals as a rating organization run parallel to those of the companies we rate. If Company A has gone to great lengths to reduce their carbon footprint and report their successes, they want to let customers know this. What better way to publicize your achievements than by being rated ahead of a competitor through an independent, credible third-party ranking system. Climate Counts wants to be THE ranking system that companies consider especially relevant and useful, not just the ones who score well in our rating system.

4) You also have a practical view on whether and how raters can also be consultants. Can you explain?

As with the ratings themselves, transparency is at the heart of whether a ratings organization can make the successful leap into the role of advisor or consultant. The goal is to provide outward-facing, clearly defined and delineated operational guidelines that can withstand the most profound levels of scrutiny, guidelines that adhere to the mission of the organization while maintaining operational integrity.

At Climate Counts, we perform annual rankings of 150 of the world’s largest companies based on their efforts to measure, reduce and report greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in addition to whether they take a formal stance in support of climate change legislation. Because there are several companies that recognize the value of this service, but don’t represent one of the 150 largest companies, we have developed the Industry Innovators (I2) program. Our I2 service offering allows businesses to: 1) employ our industry-proven ratings criteria to complete self-assessments; 2) engage with our project team directly to outline a plan for improved performance; 3) access membership privileges such as marketing assistance, peer networking and consumer-facing media opportunities.

We accomplish the balance between our annual Climate Counts rating process and our revenue-generating I2 program through full disclosure of our rating methodologies, use of publicly reported information in our evaluations and a set of strict internal governance procedures to avoid conflicts of interest.

Winners claim your T-shirt by e-mailing info@climatecounts.org with a link to your Twitter account! Jill @EcoHerbalista - Jessika @JesseRae_XP - Heather @NNUS - Laureen @MamandeEDS - Alison @sustcampus - Kristen @kapowers1 - Julie @Crunchymom – Tilly @Tillyface - Luca @PoweringaNation - Jady @jadykins81 – Andrea @AndreaLearned - Kay Z @kzarr - Danielle @that_danielle

Last week we announced that our Green Watching campaign is teaming up with 16-year-old climate activist Alec Loorz and his international iMatter March campaign happening in May. Loorz is the founder of the non-profit Kids vs. Global Warming and has inspired his generation to lead youth-driven iMatter Marches across the globe. In the run-up to the marches, the Climate Counts Green Watching campaign and iMatter March are reminding youth everywhere to demand more corporate climate action by raising their climate voices to the 12 electronic and 10 toy companies scored by Climate Counts.

Hey @Appletweets @Motorola & @Britax! I’m #Green, I’m Watching & I think @ClimateCounts! Do you? http://on.fb.me/eR59tK #climatechange #imttrmrch

Those who tweet will be in the running for a free Climate Counts WEADDUP t-shirt and will double their chances of winning by announcing their tweet on the Climate Counts Facebook page.

]]> http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/04/climate-counts-announces-t-shirt-tuesday-winners/feed/ http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/04/16-year-old-climate-activist-unites-generation-around-climate-crisis/ http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/04/16-year-old-climate-activist-unites-generation-around-climate-crisis/#comments Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:00:05 +0000 admin http://blog.climatecounts.org/?p=137

Summary: Starting April 22, the Climate Counts Green Watching campaign is teaming up with 16-year-old climate activist Alec Loorz and his international iMatter March campaign happening in May. Loorz is the founder of the non-profit Kids vs. Global Warming and has inspired his generation to lead youth-driven iMatter Marches across the globe. In the run-up to the marches, the Climate Counts Green Watching campaign and iMatter March are reminding youth everywhere to demand more corporate climate action by raising their climate voices to the 12 electronic and 10 toy companies scored by Climate Counts. Tweet

16 Year Old Climate Activist Unites Generation Around Climate Crisis

Climate Counts’ Green Watching Campaign Teams Up with iMatter March

My name is Alec Loorz, I am 16 years old and I founded iMatter as part of Kids vs. Global Warming. Our generation, which stands to lose the most from our changing climate, is being ignored. iMatter is about young people standing up and telling the world that they matter.

So what do you do when you have been ignored? You demand attention. We will be marching in cities across the globe on the same day to show that youth are united in our demand for change.

Our governments are ignoring our right to inherit a planet we can inhabit. It is wrong.  And we will not tolerate it any longer. The time has now come for the youth of this planet to stand up together and change our own habits and demand that our leaders prioritize our futures and take action to reduce emissions immediately.

Because my generation cares about our future I know our iMatter march will be a huge success and will help show the world when it comes to climate change we all matter. The press and media love seeing people march for their rights, after all a democratic voice is what this country is built on. Unfortunately I can’t vote out politicians that don’t care about my future and marches only happen once in a while. Fortunately, in the run-up to our iMatter march and every day after I can inspire my friends to raise their climate voices and make climate choice. As kids we consume products and advertisements everyday. We’re always part of the marketplace whether we want to be or not. If we’re lucky enough to have parents buying us food, toys and clothes we’re handing over our family dollars to companies that either care about climate change or don’t.

Let me explain. I love Apple, I am 16 - it’s impossible to separate me from my iPhone, and I am typing this on a Macbook. I was pumped when Apple left the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because it disagreed on the organization’s negative stance on climate action. So when I read a few weeks ago a group of 36 Chinese environmental groups has accused Apple of failing to address concerns over pollution and worker health issues from workers and environmental groups, I wanted to tell Apple how I felt. Apple products, along with many other electronic companies scored by Climate Counts are reliant on products produced in Chinese factories. Not only are these factories coal powered, but they frequently use chemicals and products that are beyond harmful to our environment - kind of scary stuff considering almost all of my friends have cell phones now…

But what’s most interesting to me is that Apple’s Climate Counts score, along with almost every other electronic company scored by Climate Counts has gone up every year since the first scores were released in 2007. This got me thinking, if companies don’t always listen to workers and environmentalist, maybe the reason their Climate Counts scores are improving is because they listen to me, as a consumer. If we as consumers demand companies address their environmental problems, companies will have to pay attention. If we as consumers tell companies we’re done buying their products until they take action, companies will have to respond.

In the run up to my iMatter march on May 8^th we’re teaming up with the Climate Counts Green Watching campaign telling the 12 electronic and 10 toy companies on Twitter and through e-mail that ‘Climate Counts and iMatter!’ First up Apple: Hey @Appletweets, I’m #Green, I’m Watching and @ClimateCounts! #imttrmrch…Do you?

-Alec Loorz

Founder of Kids vs Global Warming

Send your message from the Climate Counts website or download the free Climate Counts iPhone app.

About iMatter: iMatter began as a simple video, created by Alec Loorz, the founder of Kids vs Global Warming when he was 13 year old. Now it’s a global campaign meant to unite the voices of a generation on the most urgent issue of our time. The iMatter March is the launch of the campaign. Following the Mother’s Day event, youth will remain engaged with online training and youth-to-youth education and advocacy campaigns that will inspire action on behalf of their generation and those to come.

About Climate Counts: Climate Counts is a non-profit campaign that scores companies annually on the basis of their voluntary action to reverse climate change. The Climate Counts Company Scorecard helps people vote with their dollars by making climate-conscious purchasing and investing choices that put pressure on the world’s most well-known companies to take the issue of climate change seriously. Launched with support from organics pioneer Stonyfield Farm, Climate Counts believes everyday consumers can be the most important activists in the fight against global warming. Climate Counts has currently evaluated nearly 150 companies in sixteen major consumer sectors. Climate Counts’ work has appeared in many of the world’s leading media outlets, among them the New York Times, National Public Radio, The Economist, BBC World Service, the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Huffington Post, and the Harvard Business Review. The organization launched its free iPhone app and its voluntary Climate Counts Industry Innovators (i2) program in early 2010

]]> http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/04/16-year-old-climate-activist-unites-generation-around-climate-crisis/feed/ http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/04/climatecountsorg-bard-center-for-environmental-policy-ceresorg-and-350org-engage-in-climate-dialogue-with-nike/ http://blog.climatecounts.org/2011/04/climatecountsorg-bard-center-for-environmental-policy-ceresorg-and-350org-engage-in-climate-dialogue-with-nike/#comments Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:14:29 +0000 admin http://blog.climatecounts.org/?p=136

Today from 12-1pm EST, ClimateCounts.org, Ceres.org and 350.org are supporting the Bard Center for Environmental Policy’s Campus to Corporation (C2C) campaign by tweeting during Bard’s open dialogue with Sarah Severn, Stakeholder Mobilization Director of Sustainable Business and Innovation at Nike Inc.

For the third year in a row Nike topped the ClimateCounts.org scorecard and last year made headlines by resigning from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Board over climate disputes.

In December of 2010 at the release of the latest ClimateCounts.org scores, Wood Turner, ClimateCounts.org Executive Director, noted that, “There’s an emerging top tier of innovative companies leading on climate.” Turner went on to state that “Climate action may have bogged down in Washington, but these companies know they can build successful businesses while tackling the climate crisis.”

ClimateCounts.org and partners will be encouraging climate-conscious consumers to join the open dialogue today and tweet using the #Nike hashtag to learn more about the climate action Nike is taking.

Click here to join the call.

No? You might want to look at your toilet paper…

David and Charles Koch might not be household names, but as major funders of climate denial organizations, they’re directly disrupting clean energy innovation and the future of our climate with your dollars. Let us explain.

Within the clean energy movement, Koch Industries is regarded as the leading funder of climate science distortion and needs no introduction. As leaders of one of the largest privately held companies in the world, David and Charles Koch have built a large portion of their $35 billion fortune on oil refineries and by controlling four thousand miles of pipelines in the U.S. Their motives for funding Americans for Prosperity and other climate change denying organizations become clear when you look at how they acquired their wealth – why search for low-carbon solutions if your entire fortune is based on burning fossil fuels?

In 2010 the University of Massachusetts at Amherst Political Economy Research Institute identified Koch Industries as one of the top ten air polluters in the United States for pumping out about 300 million tons of carbon dioxide pollution a year roughly the equivalent to half of the per capita emissions of the U.S. population (the average American’s carbon footprint is 19 tons annually). It’s easy to see why eliminating the EPA’s authority to protect our air and regulate greenhouse gasses works in Koch’s favor.

Here’s a list of just a few recent Koch clean energy roadblocks:

The Washington Post reported that Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan – where Koch is headquartered) whose 2010 campaign received $79,500 from the Kochs, proposed an amendment to the Clean Air Act that would drastically cut funding for an Environmental Protection Agency’s industrial greenhouse gas emissions program. (The amendment passed in a 239-185 vote.)

The New York Times reported that “Koch donated $1 million to the campaign to pass Proposition 23, the California ballot initiative that would suspend the state’s global-warming law” (Proposition 23 failed when Californians demanded clean energy.)

OpenSecrets.org reports that from 2005 to 2008, Koch Industries spent nearly $25 million funding clean energy deniers and climate-denying organizations in Washington.

Koch owns an array of oil, chemical, and synthetic companies and we realize that it can be mind-numbing for consumers to decipher who’s behind every company. But if you’ve ever purchased paper towels, toilet paper, or tissue paper, you might find this interesting:

Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries, claims that dioxins aren’t really toxic or carcinogenic, even as the World Health Organization states that “dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.”

Georgia-Pacific is fighting the EPA’s efforts to tighten water quality standards for stream dumping, specifically in the St. John’s River outside of Jacksonville, FL.

Georgia-Pacific owns many well-know paper brands: Quilted Northern, Soft ‘n Gentle, Angel Soft, Brawny, and Dixie to name a few. Consumer dollars spent on Georgia-Pacific products fund Koch Industries and its opposition to climate action. Simply put, if you’re buying Georgia-Pacific products you’re fighting against clean air and our clean energy future.

But there is an answer: Raise your voice to Koch brands and urge the company to rethink its stance on climate change. Or continue to buy from companies taking climate action and tell those companies what motivates you.

As part of our Green Watching campaign, Climate Counts is encouraging consumers to tweet to Georgia-Pacific demanding more climate action: “Hey @GeorgiaPacific I think @ClimateCounts. Stop funding climate change denial. I spend my $ w/ #climate in mind http://bit.ly/S8JfO” Not on Twitter? Join our Green Watching Campaign and help us raise our collective voices to businesses demanding corporate climate action.