Wonder which IT suppliers have the best green records? According to Ceres, an environmental and public interest investment coalition, IBM Dell, and Intel are at the top. And the technology industry in general is more environmentally responsible than other industries.
Ceres used information gleaned from securities filings, company and Web sites, questionnaires, and communications with the companies to compile the rankings. The report is a comprehensive one, and took six months to compile. It rated 63 companies in 11 different industry sectors.
The report examined how firms address climate change "through board of director oversight, management execution, public disclosure, GHG emissions accounting and strategic planning and performance," in the words of Ceres.
IBM not only topped all technology companies --- it topped every single other company in the survey, with a ranking of 79 out of 100 possible points. Here's the report's summary about IBM:
IBM has had a long track record of environmental protection, reporting publicly on the company’s impact and innovating to fi nd new solutions for customers, particularly in the area of energy efficiency. The company has already met a suite of first generation greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and energy conservation targets and has announced a set of new targets through 2012. Of particular note are IBM’s innovations in product development – from data centers to microprocessors – but also the company’s research collaborations on issues ranging from traffic congestion pricing systems to solar cell technology.
Dell came in at number 2 in technology, just behind IBM, and third overall, with a score of 77. Here's the report's summary about Dell:
In September 2007, Dell became the first major computer manufacturer to commit to neutralizing the carbon impact of its worldwide operations. The company announced in August 2008 that it had achieved carbon neutrality through a strategy of first driving additional energy-efficiencies, maximizing purchases of renewable power and then off setting remaining impacts. Of particular note to Dell's success have been leadership from CEO Michael Dell, a long history of collaborating with industry partners on product energy efficiency initiatives, and engagement with suppliers on climate change issues.
Intel rated as the top semiconductor company, with a 72 rating. Here's the report's summary:
Intel began reducing its GHG emissions with its commitment to reduce PFC emissions, a potent GHG, in the late 1990s. Th e company has since set and is on track to meet absolute and intensity GHG emission reduction targets and energy effi ciency targets. It has a dedicated funding stream for climate and energy initiatives and it is the largest purchaser of renewable energy in the US, according to the US EPA. In 2007 the company completed its transition to the more energy-efficient and higher performance Intel Core architecture in its full line of desktop, mobile and server processors. Intel is involved in several initiatives to improve the energy efficiency of computers, servers and data centers, including the Climate Savers Computing Initiative which it cofounded with Google.
Overall, the technology sector was given the best average rating of all industries, a 59. The semiconductor industry came in third, with a 56, with the pharmaceutical industry getting a 57. The report says that technology and semiconductor industries "had particularly strong performance in product and service innovation."
Ge the report overview from the Ceres site. Download the full report here.