12.14.2007 - 08:00am ET

(CSRwire) MANCHESTER, NH - December 14, 2007 - Consumers can "ship green" this holiday season thanks to Climate Counts' on-time delivery of a new shipping sector ranking. DHL (and its parent Deutsche Post World Net) and the U.S. Postal Service lead the rankings, with UPS and FedEx both lagging. Climate Counts also released a new "Holiday Shopping Guide" of 60 well-known companies’ climate commitment. Holiday shoppers can download and print the pocket-sized guide at ClimateCounts.org.

"Unfortunately, not every gift can be delivered with the strength of just eight reindeer this holiday season – most need to be shipped on planes, trains or trucks. The bottom line is that the shipping sector has an enormous role to play in the fight to stop the climate crisis, and our new ranking allows consumers to make informed decisions now and throughout the year," said Wood Turner, Project Director of Climate Counts.

DHL led the sector with a score of 45 (out of 100), followed by the U.S. Postal Service with a score of 43. UPS was next, scoring a 39, with FedEx lagging behind its competitors at a score of 28. This rating of the shipping sector brings the growing number of Climate Counts indexed companies to 60. Each company is rescored on an annual basis to regularly gauge their efforts to improve.

"While we're pleased the shipping sector has begun to take action on climate, they, like most of us in the business community, have a long way to go," said Gary Hirshberg, CEO of Stonyfield Farm and board chair of Climate Counts. "If I had ever come home from school with a 45, I would have been in trouble - even if it were the holidays."

Climate Counts' new "Holiday Shopping Guide" is a pocket-sized reminder of where 60 of the top companies rank on their climate commitment. Canon, Nike and Unilever top the 60 companies scored on the inaugural Climate Counts Scorecard. The bottom of the index includes 17 companies with scores under 12, including Amazon.com, Jones Apparel, Apple, eBay, Limited Brands and Levi Strauss.

"Consumers have gotten the message all year long about how to buy green, but our guide helps consumers shop - and ship - green," said Joel Makower, chair and executive editor of Greener World Media and a Climate Counts Board member. "Consumers have the power this holiday season to let companies know that 'climate counts' in their purchasing and shipping decisions."

Consumers can review all the company scores and download the pocket-size "Holiday Shopping Guide" at www.ClimateCounts.org. Holiday shoppers can also look up companies’ rankings using their cell phones, so they can make climate-friendly consumer decisions right from the shopping aisles. This cell phone tool, Climate Counts On-The-Go, is a partnership with CREDO Mobile, formerly Working Assets Wireless.

The companies were scored on a scale from one to 100, based on 22 criteria within the following four benchmarks: whether they measure and monitor their carbon footprint; whether they have taken meaningful steps to reduce their own climate impact; whether they have supported or opposed climate policy initiatives; and how comprehensively and effectively they have reported on their climate protection efforts to the public.

The Climate Counts Company Scorecard was developed with oversight from a panel of business and climate experts from leading non-governmental organizations and academic institutions. Criteria were chosen for their effectiveness at accomplishing a single goal - stopping global warming. Climate Counts researchers then used these criteria to rate companies based on a point system for climate-related actions. Companies were given an opportunity to confirm public data sources used by Climate Counts for scoring.

About Climate Counts

Climate Counts is a non-profit organization bringing consumers and companies together in the fight against global climate change. It was launched and funded by Stonyfield Farm in collaboration with Clean Air-Cool Planet, a leading organization dedicated to finding solutions to global warming. Please visit www.climatecounts.org for more information.

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