Report Report: Ecolab's management win, forests' climate secrets
<p>Find rankings of environmental management, and reasons to sell green goods. Plus, don't discount the people among the forests and trees.</p>
WRI report 2014
The Report Report brings you highlights from recent reports that are worth a look. Too often, reports from business groups and analysts gather dust on desks, or virtual dust in email inboxes. That's a lot of wisdom left untapped. Share your own reports by emailing us here.
GEMS 2014 Benchmarking Analysis of Disclosed U.S. Corporate Environmental Practices
Source: Soyka & Company and IW Financial
What it says: Which companies have the biggest muscle in environmental management? Ecolab, Intel and Lexmark are on top in this ranking, which looked at 43 indicators among the publicly traded Russell 3000. Soyka & Company used its Governance and Environmental Management Strength (GEMS) Rating to analyze data from IW Financial. Companies in real estate, casinos, services and banking — not often known for green policies or infrastructure — have made big strides in the last four years. Yet other former leaders — including in banking, pharmaceuticals and banking — posted big declines. Why?
What we say: Numeric rankings of the overall sustainability of corporations often clash and can leave you puzzled, wondering why few of the same names appear in the top slots across lists. Yet this analysis is more specific, and should be useful if you’re mostly interested in management approaches. The methodology aimed for a “coherent, effective, and sensible approach to managing an organization’s environmental issues”: policy; infrastructure and systems; results; and accessiblity/clarity of disclosure.
Access: Request a download here.
An Imperative for Consumer Companies to Go Green
Source: Boston Consulting Group
What it says: If you work at a big brand, chances are your offerings of “green” products are still relatively thin. Yet products with “responsible consumption” labels are now mainstream, making up 15 percent of sales and rising at big retail chains. That may not sound like a lot, but this category accounts for 70 percent of sales growth overall — and most are offered by smaller specialty brands. What can “A brands” learn from this? The Boston Consulting Group and Information Resources scrutinized point-of-sale data to offer lessons.
What we say: If your corporation is weighing whether to increase its organic, fair trade or other such offerings — whether by building on existing categories (think Clorox GreenWorks) or buying a niche company (think Danone and Stonyfield Farm) — here’s a “wake-up call” to build a strategy now. It’s backed up by analysis of some 10,000 SKUs of 20 types of products in food as well as personal and household care.
Access: Read it here.
Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change
Source: World Resources Institute
What it says: WRI research looked at 130 reports that touched on 14 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. It found that community forests managed by indigenous people offer “superior carbon storage." In more than 40 pages, the group makes the case for strengthening the rights of local peoples to their forestland.
What we say: This report is about putting power in the hands of the people. It’s not explicitly about business. It’s a call to action for those in power in government, but it should be on the minds of business leaders as well. With more than 3 million acres are cleared each year, plenty of people (and industries) still could use some convincing.
Access: Download here.
