LONDON, United Kingdom — A study of 600 of the United Kingdom's biggest brands found that only 121 companies are reducing emissions and have set sufficient goals to meet the government's climate goals by 2020.
The Brand Emissions study is the first of an annual series of reports looking at how well businesses in a range of industries are working toward cutting their emissions.
Firms doing the best work on reducing their carbon footprints -- dubbed "Brand Emission Leaders" by researchers -- are in line to meet the U.K. government's goals of cutting emissions by 34 percent over 1990 levels by the year 2020. Companies falling in the leadership category are Tesco, T-Mobile, Dell and BMW.
The study found that 250 companies did not report any carbon emissions, including Google and Burger King; and 320 companies did not publicy report any reductions goals, including McDonald's, MasterCard and Porsche.
The study was commissioned by Marketing magazine and its partner publication Brand Republic; the companies in the study were rated on whether they had been reducing emissions or had among the lowest emissions intensities in their industry sector, whether the company's emissions reduction targets were at or above the government's climate goals, and if the company was reporting its emissions in compliance with international standards.
The report looks at 13 categories of businesses:
• Automotive
• Business Services
• Financial Services
• Household Appliances
• Media
• Oil Companies
• Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
• Retail
• Technology
• Telecommunications
• Transport
• Travel
• Utilities and Services AOL
The areas making the most progress included food retailers, pharmaceutical companies, publishing firms and telecommunications. The worst brands for emissions targets were car rentals, hotels and general retail firms.
Leading companies in selected industries included British Airways and Lufthansa for airlines; Dell and IBM for the IT industry; BMW, Volkswagen and General Motors for automotive; and Tesco, Asda, Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's and others in the food retail sector.
"The 100 or so leading brands show just how much can be done if you set your mind to it," Dr. Craig Mackenzie, a professor at the University of Edinburgh and the research direct of the project, said in a statement. "But to keep global temperatures within the 2°C 'safe' zone, we need all brands to demonstrate that the same level of ambition and achievement as these Leaders."
Overall rankings are available by request: email Craig Mackenzie at craig.mackenzie@ed.ac.uk for a copy, and visit www.brandemissions.com for more details.