EcoHearth: Come Home to the Earth

During the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, corporate leaders from the planet’s biggest firms were patting each other and themselves on the back for their sustainability records. Many had just been named to Corporate Knights magazine’s list of the world’s 100 most sustainable corporations. The sixth annual list hews much closer to the Fortune 500 than sustainable business rankings you might find in Mother Jones magazine or at the Greenpeace website This begs the question: Can the world’s biggest companies also be the most eco-friendly?

In some ways, the Corporate Knights Global-100 list is commendable. It encourages environmental stewardship in companies and industries that have a monumental environmental impact. It also uses well-defined and quantifiable measurements to reach its conclusions. However, it may also overlook missteps by its sustainability leaders.

Corporate Knights intentionally skews its list toward major brands and multinational corporations rather than organic grocers and solar-power startups. The magazine began with 300 of the largest and most financially stable companies in the world. It then ranked them according to 10 criteria; the first four being quantifiable productivity measures—the amount of revenue per unit of energy, water, carbon and waste.

Of course, these measurements cannot translate directly across all industries, but they allow for significant comparisons. They also show companies that they can make more money through sustainability. The list encourages firms to compete for the lowest energy, water, carbon and waste.

Other Corporate Knights criteria include social and legal responsibility—paying taxes, promoting women and keeping worker-to-executive pay ratios below painfully offensive levels. These measures aren’t directly eco-friendly, but are steps that companies should be encouraged to take. Finally, Corporate Knights lauds companies with sustainability committees and systems for linking corporate pay to sustainability action.

Not So Fast, GE?
Coincidentally (or maybe not), General Electric, the world’s largest company, also tops the Global-100 list. Corporate Knights praises GE for doubling its carbon productivity between 2006 and 2008. The firm boosted revenues from $150 billion to $181 billion while cutting carbon emissions from 10.8 million to 6.5 million tons.

But many New Yorkers would say this ranking overlooks some ugly eco-skeletons in GE’s closet. For example, the company dumped more than one million pounds of toxic PCBs into the Hudson River. The EPA forced GE to finally clean up the mess, but their effort may be releasing more toxic chemicals downstream.

Does Regulation Work?
Coming in second was PG&E Corporation, best known as the parent company of northern California’s main power utility, which has more solar customers than any other utility. Of course, many in that region say PG&E could be doing more to clean up its act, and can point to solar or wind providers who are 100% renewable. These small companies are great models for the future, but cannot provide enough juice to power the millions of homes in northern California. In the meantime, PG&E is doing more than its big-league competitors. The company’s ranking also points to the power (pun intended) of government renewable-energy mandates. The company was forced to boost its renewable portfolio by the state, but remains profitable.

Agreement on Nokia’s Sustainability
Nokia landed in fifth place, and even hardcore greens praise this Finnish phone company, which topped the Greenpeace ranking of consumer electronics companies. Notably, the top marks were earned for different reasons for the different lists. The Global 100 lauded Nokia for its energy, waste, carbon and water efficiency. The company earns a whopping $320,536 per ton of CO₂ consumed — more than 10 times the rate for GE. Greenpeace, on the other hand, likes Nokia because it recycles used phones in a very disposable-oriented industry, and it minimizes harmful chemicals.

Sometimes, multinational companies can be jolly green giants. Of course, they also can take big, messy missteps.

[Please comment below if you know of a company deserving of accolades for its green policies and practices. - Ed.]