Over the last month, CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project) has released its assessments of how publicly traded companies around the world scored on the CDP’s 2014 Climate Change Information Request. I think 2014 marks a dozen years that CDP has been moving the needle on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reporting.
On September 23, CDP released the results of its regional assessments. In Cisco’s case, CDP reported our scoring as part of its U.S.-based S&P 500 report. For the 2nd year in a row, we received the top score of 100. Another accomplishment that I think is especially meaningful is that we made CDP’s Carbon Disclosure Leadership index (CDLI) for the 7th year in a row. As companies have improved their reporting, disclosure scores have improved; the “room at the top” is a lot smaller (see CDP chart below).
Today, Cisco was recognized as one of only four organizations nationwide as a “Green Power Partner of the Year” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This annual award recognizes the country’s leading green power users for furthering the voluntary green power market. EPA presented Cisco with the award at an event held at the 2013 Renewable Energy Markets Conference in Austin, Texas.
Andy Smith and Matt Kulikowski (Cisco) accepting the award from Blaine Collison (EPA)
Cisco’s use of renewable energy reflects our commitment to sustainability and is a key part of managing our impact on the environment. This is the right thing to do as a corporate citizen; it also helps us optimize the value of our operations and attract and retain best-in-class talent.
We are very proud to win this award in recognition of both our historical support of renewable energy and to continue to include renewable energy as a significant part of our global energy strategy. Today Cisco buys the majority of its renewable energy through wind-generated sources certified by Green-e. In addition, Cisco generates some of its own energy using on-site solar panels, such as 100-kW systems installed at two of our data center locations, and also participates in utility green power programs across Europe and in India.
“Receiving the Green Power Partner of the Year award is a great honor and EPA applauds Cisco’s leadership and impact on the green power market,” said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “Cisco’s commitment to using green power and reducing its climate impacts provides a clear example of an organization thriving on innovation and sustainability.”
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Tags: climate change, corporate social responsibility, CSR, EPA, renewable energy
Over the past 18 months, I’ve had the privilege to assist the City of Cleveland Office of Sustainability in developing a city-wide Climate Action Plan (CAP). This scope of this plan is not limited to the city’s own operations, although there is a plan for that as well, but instead looks at the entire carbon and environmental footprint for the whole city, it’s inhabitants, businesses, everything!
It goes without saying that this in an enormous undertaking that very few cities have even tried. My biggest take-away from participating in and observing the process is the importance of broad stakeholder engagement when working to improve environmental sustainability. And that thought resonates when I consider the success factors for the programs that I have been a part of in private industry. The team working on the CAP included 50 individuals with sustainability expertise representing government, private companies, and community organizations in the greater Cleveland region.
Since joining Cisco three years ago, my job has been to reduce the climate impact of Cisco’s internal operations. We achieved our 2012 carbon reduction goals of 25% and are now gearing up for our 2017 goal of 40% reduction (for a 2007 baseline). As a resident of Cleveland, I was excited to take my experiences at Cisco and volunteer my time and expertise to Cleveland’s project.
So why is it important to cast a wide net when engaging stakeholders?
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Tags: climate change, CSR, GHG
Greenpeace started evaluating global Information Technology (IT) companies in 2009 because IT companies have a central role to play in enabling a modern, renewable-powered energy infrastructure. The IT sector has the opportunity to drive transformative change in the consumption and production of energy, with the potential to drive a significant reduction in the greenhouse gases that cause climate change.
Today it was announced that Cisco is tied with Google for the top spot on the Cool IT Leaderboard — a scoring system that analyzes IT companies’ contributions to achieving global greenhouse gas emissions reductions of 15 percent by 2020.
The Greenpeace analysis of Cisco’s performance said “Cisco’s leadership improved across each of the three evaluation areas, particularly for updated commitments to manage its energy footprint and increase the amount of renewable energy powering its operations.”
As a futurist and technologist, I’m an optimist. I view technology through the lens of how it can help people.
From this perspective, there is no better time to be alive than now. That’s because we are entering an era where the Internet has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of everyone on our planet—from accelerating the discovery of cures for diseases, to understanding climate change, to enhancing the way companies do business, to making every day more enjoyable.
Already, the Internet has benefited many individuals, businesses, and countries by improving education through the democratization of information, allowing for economic growth through electronic commerce, and accelerating business innovation by enabling greater collaboration.
So what will the next decade of the Internet bring?