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Corporate Social Responsibility
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1.30.2008 - 08:30am ET
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Greener World Media
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U.S. Business Making Limited Progress on Green Issues, Says Landmark State of Green Business Report
Free GreenBiz.com Report Assesses 20 Key Indicators of Green Business Performance
(CSRwire) OAKLAND, CA - January 30, 2008 — Despite an apparent flurry of activity
by corporations to improve their environmental performance, U.S. companies
aren't yet making much of a difference in addressing major environmental
problems, according to a new report.
"State of Green Business 2008," a free report published by GreenBiz.com,
reports that companies are making good progress on fewer than half of the
20 measures of performance it investigated. In some cases, environmental
problems are losing ground, even as companies gradually improve their
environmental performance, due to the expanding economy of recent
years.
For example, generation of electricity from wind, solar, and other
renewable sources has grown steadily — from 81 billion megawatt-hours in
2000 to 96 billion in 2006, the most recent data available. But overall
electricity consumption has grown, too, with the result being that
renewables represent slightly more than two percent of overall U.S.
electricity generation, about the same percentage as in 1995.
"Amid the cacophony of headlines and hype, companies are getting greener,
but it's not always obvious or straightforward," says Joel Makower,
Executive Editor of GreenBiz.com and the report's principal author. "And
the progress itself can be illusory. Companies, in aggregate, aren't
changing quickly or significantly enough to move the needle on climate
change and other challenges."
The report, which can be downloaded at www.GreenBiz.com, marks the launch of
the GreenBiz Index, a set of 20 indicators of U.S. business environmental
progress. They include macroeconomic measures, such as carbon emissions,
toxic releases, packaging materials, and paper use per unit of gross
domestic product, as well as tracking corporate fleet purchases of
alternative fuel vehicles, construction of green office space, investments
in clean tech, and corporate reporting on environmental and climate
impacts.
Among the findings:
Alternative fueled vehicles, such as hybrid and electric vehicles,
represent slightly more than one percent of all corporate fleet
purchases.
The energy efficiency of office buildings, measured as energy use per
square foot, has leveled off in recent years, following a dramatic growth
in efficiency during the 1990s.
U.S. greenhouse gas intensity, measured as emissions as a percentage
of gross domestic product, is dropping, though actual emissions remain
about the same.
The percentage of employees carpooling or taking public transit to
work dropped almost ten percent between 2000 and 2006, though employee
telecommuting from home or remote locations eight or more hours per week
has risen by 16 percent.
The amount of used computers and other e-waste has more than doubled
since 2000, though e-waste recycling grew by only about 20 percent during
that period.
Paper use, measured against gross domestic product, has declined by
more than 20 percent over the past decade, while the recycling rate has
increased by 20 percent during that same period.
"State of Green Business 2008 offers clear insight into how, and how well,
companies are integrating environmental thinking into their operations,"
says Pete May, President of
Greener World Media, Inc., which produces GreenBiz.com. "This is the first
time anyone has created a comprehensive and authoritative assessment of the
progress being made."
The report also includes the top ten green business trends of 2007. They
include the greening of transport — planes, trains, trucks, and ships
— that move people and goods around the world; the rapid growth of green
computing, as makers of chips, PCs, and other devices vie to be the most
energy efficient and major equipment companies partner to help capture
e-waste; and how banks are launching an impressive array of initiatives to
support clean energy, climate change mitigation, green building, and other
things.
To download the free report, visit www.GreenBiz.com.
GreenBiz.com and "State of Green Business 2008" are produced by Greener
World Media, Inc., based in Oakland, Calif., the leading media,
conference, and information services company on the greening of mainstream
business. For more information, visit www.GreenerWorldMedia.com.
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