3. Internal Diagnosis
According to the problem definition, corporations all over the world are doing too little to combat climate change. However, this does not specify which types of companies, what size they are and what nationalities they have, contribute more or less to the problem. This section therefore aims to set out which firms are adding to the problem and can resolve it by giving examples of firms that have implemented strategies / initiatives to face the challenges of climate change. It also points out what the experience is with certain codes of corporate governance and other forms of corporate social responsibility. Lastly, an example of best-practice versus worst-practice listings will be given and the basis for how firms are scored on these listings will be explained.
What companies add to the problem
American firms are doing much more to address the issues of climate change. Still, most of them are lagging behind their international peers (Ceres, 2006). This mainly because the non-U.S. firms have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, but also due to other company-specific factors, such as integration of board and management environmental roles, long-term planning cycles and a commitment to sustainability reporting. The Ceres report conducted a study among 100 companies, thereby analyzing 76 U.S. companies and 24 non-U.S. companies. Certain industries are scoring better on corporate governance regarding climate change than others and within those industries there are high- and low-scoring companies. Examples of on average high-scoring industries are the chemical (see Table 3.1 below), the electric power, and the auto industry. Examples of high-scoring corporations are DuPont, AEP and Toyota respectively.
Table 3.1 Example of a high-scoring ...