by Shane Henson — October 21, 2011—The world’s largest companies often receive much criticism for the negative impact they often have on the environment, but according to Newsweek magazine’s 2011 Green Rankings, many are actually doing an impressive job of utilizing and promoting sustainable practices.
Newsweek’s2011 Green Rankings analyze the biggest companies in America—and the world—to determine which are doing the most to save the planet. According to the rankings, in the United States, IBM comes in first as a result of its relatively light environmental footprint, proactive management when it comes to green issues, and detailed public reporting of its impacts. The company has conserved more than 5.4 billion kilowatt hours of electricity, saving $400 million, between 1990 and 2010. Hewlett-Packard, Sprint Nextel, Baxter, and Dell round out the top five. In general, technology, healthcare, and financial services companies take the top spots on this year’s list.
However, European and Asian countries seem to be outperforming American ones when it comes to environmental sustainability. After IBM (No. 2 on the Global list), there are 12 spots before the next U.S. company (Hewlett-Packard, No. 15 globally). European companies are also dominating when it comes to transparent disclosure of their environmental impacts, accounting for 65% of the top 100 disclosure scores in the rankings.
