Global
warming and environmental pollution have been the major concerns for
the world currently. In an attempt to counter them, companies across the
globe have adopted several measures and some have even excelled in
their efforts. Newsweek came up with a list of greenest companies of the
world last year and it compared the actual environmental path,
management and transparency of various companies who have made their
efforts to make a difference in the environment.
The top 10 greenest companies are:
1.Munich Re:
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| Munich Re |
Munich Re is a Climate Group member. The company helps corresponding companies find solutions to climate change, for instance by adapting both their product ranges and their consulting services to change environmental conditions. The company's involvement in the Finance Initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme goes back to 1999. The company is also a party to the June 2007 UNEP FI joint declaration on climate change, which calls for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and includes a commitment to sustainable management.
2. IBM:
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| IBM |
IBM ranks second on the list. Headquartered in the United States, the
company has a green score of 82.5. The company deals in Information
Technology and services.
A few years ago, IBM Corporation took its data centre business under the Project Big Green concept to the next level of completion by launching three new data centre designs for the Indian market. IBM solutions can help customers reduce costs and minimize energy, water, carbon emissions and waste. The company is helping customers to become more energy efficient, implement new ways to source, manufacture and distribute goods and services in a more sustainable manner, enabling safe and renewable sources of energy and manage resources at a macro level, thus, transforming entire industries.
3. National Australia Bank:
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| NAB |
NAB ranks third in the world’s greenest companies. The company is
headquartered in Australia and deals in financials. The green score of
the company is 82.2.
More than 600 employee volunteers have helped the NAB cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 15 percent ever since 2006. The NAB since 2006 has saved around 21,000 tonnes of annual emissions from reduced energy use across its operations and another 12,000 tonnes by boosting its renewable energy purchase. The company in September 2008, topped the Global 500 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for non-carbon intensive industries segment, and it became the highest scoring Australian bank.
4. Bradesco:
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| Bradesco |
Bradesco ranks fourth on the list. It is headquartered in Brazil and
the type of business dealt in is financials. The green score of the
company is 82.2.
Bradesco has a Carbon Credit Management area, which offers funding to companies that want to launch projects to reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions. However, the programme is so advanced for Brazil that it is not deeply utilized. The bank advocates eco-efficiency, which attempts to 'create more value with less environmental impact.' The Eco-efficiency Working Group established a Master Plan in 2010 which lays out plans for the next five years.
5. ANZ Banking Group:
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| ANZ Banking Group |
ANZ Banking Group ranks fifth. It is headquartered in Australia. It deals in Financials and has a green score of 80.9.
The firm has set targets to reduce consumption of electricity, water, paper, green house gas emissions. They have developed Environment Management System. In late 2010, the firm received certification from the Australian Carbon Trust (now Low Carbon Australia), the body which administers the government's National Carbon Offset Standard. The company's global headquarters ANZ Centre, has been designed to produce 70 percent less green house gas emissions than a standard commercial office building and it uses 60 percent less water than the industry average.
6. BT Group:
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| BT Group |
The BT Group is headquartered in United Kingdom. It ranks sixth on the
list. The company deals in telecommunications and has a green score on
80.4.
The company has plans in order to reduce its carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2020, and has already reached a 54 percent reduction. In 2004, they announced the world's biggest purchase of 'green' electricity in a huge deal. Under three year contracts with British Gas and power worth several hundred million pounds, BT's depots, offices and 6,500 telephone exchanges were powered mostly from sustainable resources such as solar, wave, wind and hydroelectric schemes. The deal saved emissions equivalent to the quantity of carbon dioxide produced by over 100,000 cars.
7. Tata Consultancy Services:
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| TCS |
TCS ranks seventh on the list and is headquartered in India. The
company deals in Information Technology and services. They have a green
score of 79.1.
In 2010, TCS reduced its carbon footprint by 14.07 percent, reduced paper consumption by 34 percent, and increased waste conversion to manure by 60 percent. All of the company's new buildings are designed to meet national and international standards, like LEED Green Buildings. For the disposal of waste, 16 of Tata's facilities have started composting and some others have bio-digesters, which can turn waste into methane fuel.
8. Infosys:
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| Infosys |
Infosys, headquartered in India ranks eighth. The type of business
dealt in is IT and services. The green score of the company is 77.3.
Infosys undertook an aggressive plan to design all new buildings as green buildings when it realized that its buildings are the largest consumers of energy. For instance, to reduce the office space required within its facilities, it asked carpenters to come up with designs that promise to cut down the length or breadth of office furniture. Likewise, performance of a window or a wall in reducing heat is measured and analyzed. The artificial lights have also been replaced by luminescent lighting that consumes less energy. The right building design and alignment have also helped reduce ambient heating by sunlight and led to a significant reduction in cooling requirements. Sensors are deployed to automatically turn off lights, monitors, and IP phones when people are not at their desks.
Correspondingly, a conference room management solution automatically turns off all electrical appliances and lights when not in use. Furthermore, to increase awareness, the firm has also developed green applications such as a desktop-based personal carbon calculator, an enterprise level Carbon Emission Management System and an organization level Environment Resource Management System.
9. Philips:
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| Philips |
Philips ranks ninth. The company is headquartered in Netherlands and deals in capital goods. They have a green score of 77.2.
Philips has launched a series of environmental programmes since 1994. Its present programme EcoVision4 was announced in 2007. EcoVision4 aims at achieving many goals, including investing Euro1 billion in Green Innovations and increasing energy efficiency by 25 percent. The company sells many energy-efficient products and most of them are made through the EcoDesign process.
10. Swisscom:
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| Swisscom |
Swisscom ranks tenth on the list. It is headquartered in Switzerland
and deals in telecommunications. The green score of the firm is 77.
The company introduced the world's first solar-powered phone in 2009. The firm uses 100 percent renewable energy. Its Mistral system uses fresh air to cool its television exchanges instead of air conditioners. The company also offers many environmentally-friendly devices, such as the Ecomode cordless phone, which do not emit any radiation when on standby mode.
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