Automotive companies and environmental stewards don’t usually go hand-in-hand, yet for General Motors, it is a big part of the company’s future planning. This approach was, once again, recognized when GM earned perfect scores for climate change data disclosure.
The world’s only global environmental disclosure system, CDP recognized GM in the S&P 500 Climate Change Report 2014, as among the world’s largest companies acting in response to climate change. The achievement was announced to coincide with world leaders gathering in New York during Climate Week.
While environmental stewardess is often just lip service from major companies, GM says it delivers tangible business value as well. It plays a role in pushing the automaker to develop new fuel saving technologies for both customers and the environment. Also, it is part of GM’s work to expand the use of renewable energy – another business and environmental goal.
“Our customers expect us to help mitigate, if not eliminate, issues such as congestion and pollution,” said GM CEO Mary Barra. “This extends to how we build our products and how we engage with the world around us. This has led to expanded use of renewable energy, a ‘zero waste’ mindset and other initiatives that have sharply reduced our energy intensity, resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.”
By disclosing its climate change data, GM is opening their doors to criticism and praise from investors and other decision makers. This is due to CDP tabulating this data into scores and then comparing it to other similar size companies and scoring the data.
“Our CDP ranking shows that we’re measuring and pulling insight from our energy and carbon data to capitalize on opportunities for greater efficiency,” said Barra. “It reinforces our stewardship and sustainability goals. Responding to CDP helps us communicate to the financial community that we’re prepared for changing market demands and emissions regulation.”
Officially, GM ranks in the top 10 percent of companies for its disclosure scores. Its perfect score of 100 makes GM one of the 33 S&P 500 companies for 2014 to hit this mark.
Being recognized for its environmental stewardship may seem like a small matter for some consumers, it is a big deal for others and investors. Simply put, this is a big recognition for GM and we applaud them for it.
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