By Tom Ryan
A new environmental coalition has come up with a scorecard to help consumers take a brand's commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions into account when making purchasing decisions.
Climate Counts, a nonprofit aimed at curbing global warming, ranked 56 consumer companies by industry on a variety of benchmarks including tracking greenhouse gas emissions, steps to reduce emissions, support or opposition to environmental regulation, and disclosure of corporate activities around the climate change issue.
The stickler appears to be disclosure. Some gained points for bragging about company efforts while others were penalized for keeping activities hush-hush. Raising the public's consciousness about the importance of climate change is part of the aim of the program.
"If the information is not in the consumers' hands, they can't make informed choices," Wood Turner, the group's executive director, told The New York Times.
Consumers can review scores at the climatecounts.org website, and even download a pocket-sized ratings guide. They will also be able to use wireless devices like cell phones to call up a company's score while shopping. (The site launched Tuesday, but was still having operational issues at press time.)
No company achieved a perfect 100. Six companies scored zero (Amazon, Wendy's, Darden Restaurants and Burger King), and only four - Canon, Nike, Unilever and I.B.M. - scored 70 or higher. Stonyfield Farm, which provided $500,000 in seed money for Climate Counts, managed only a 63.
Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm and chairman of Climate Counts, told the Times his company lost points for inadequate disclosure and not enough progress on renewables.
In the food products group, Unilever and Stonyfield Farm were followed by Coca-Cola, 57; Groupe Danone, 50; Kraft, 43; Nestle, 42; General Mills, 37; PepsiCo, 26; Kellogg, 24; ConAgra Foods, 6; and Sara Lee, 2.
The study didn't explore retailers, though that may eventually change since Climate Counts plans to come out with a new scorecard every year. The group will also raise grades of companies already on the list as they disclose any progress.
"This scorecard serves as carrot and stick, rewarding some companies and prodding others," Mr. Hirshberg said. "We're not telling consumers who to buy from. We're just telling them to pay attention."
Carbon Disclosure Project has ranked companies on their environmental track records for several years, although it's aimed at the investment community. This appears to be the first ranking system for consumers.
"Most of the recent attention has been on what people and families can do to reduce their own climate footprint, such as buying compact fluorescent light bulbs or energy-efficient appliances," said Mr. Turner in a statement. "But consumers have even more power. They can motivate companies to take meaningful action to fight global warming. We've created this tool to help people flex their consumer muscle."
Discussion Questions: To what degree do you think a climate change grading system for brands could impact consumer purchasing decisions? What will it take for such a program to create a significant influence on consumer spending?