EPA recognizes UPS, Bank of America, SC Johnson, others for climate action leadership

by Brianna Crandall — February 27, 2015—From an innovative partnership enabling colleges to sell carbon credits to fund clean energy projects on campuses to some of the country’s leading corporations setting and exceeding aggressive emission reduction goals, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Climate Leadership Award winners announced Tuesday are demonstrating that innovative actions to combat climate change are also smart business decisions.

Sixteen organizations and one individual representing a wide array of industries from finance and manufacturing to retail and technology show exemplary corporate, organizational, and individual leadership in response to climate change, according to EPA.

The 2015 Climate Leadership Award Winners are listed below.

Innovative Partnerships Certificate (new category)

  • Chevrolet Clean Energy Campus Campaign (Detroit, MI): The Chevrolet Campus Clean Energy Campaign marks the first time college campuses have been able to use carbon performance methodologies to earn revenue via GHG reductions that result from on-campus efficiency and clean energy. The Campaign set a 100 percent absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal through 2014 (2012 base year).
  • San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative (San Diego, CA): The Climate Collaborative supports members in setting and meeting GHG reduction targets via trainings and information on GHG inventory and monitoring tools; sharing climate action plan templates; supporting local governments in developing climate action plans; developing capacity for local governments to implement measures in their climate action plans; and more.

Organizational Leadership Award

  • Bank of America (Charlotte, NC) not only completed its own comprehensive greenhouse gas inventory and set an aggressive emissions reduction goal, but also exemplified extraordinary leadership in its internal response to climate change through engagement of its peers, competitors, partners, and supply chain, and addressing climate risk in its enterprise strategies. Bank of America issued the first corporate green bond to fund energy efficiency projects in 2013. Bank of America is setting an absolute global GHG reduction goal of 15 percent from 2010 levels through 2015. This goal builds on a previous total reduction of 18 percent of its U.S. GHG emissions from 2004-2009.

Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Achievement Award)

  • The City and County of San Francisco, CA
  • The Clorox Company (Oakland, CA)
  • DPR Construction (Redwood City, CA)
  • SC Johnson (Racine, WI)
  • Sprint (Overland Park, KS)
  • UPS (Atlanta, GA)

Individual Leadership Award

  • Mayor Bill Finch, City of Bridgeport, CT

Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management (Goal Setting Certificate)

  • Brown-Forman Corporation (Louisville, KY)
  • California Department of Water Resources
  • Capital One Financial Corporation (McLean, VA)
  • CH2M HILL (Englewood, CO)
  • The Clorox Company (Oakland, CA)
  • EMC Corporation (Hopkinton, MA)
  • The Hartford (Hartford, CT)
  • Tiffany & Co. (NY)

EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership, in partnership with the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), and The Climate Registry (TCR), announced the winners of the fourth annual Climate Leadership Award winners, which were presented at the 2015 Climate Leadership Conference in Arlington, VA.

EPA’s Center for Corporate Climate Leadership establishes norms of climate leadership by encouraging organizations with emerging climate objectives to identify and achieve cost-effective GHG emission reductions, while helping more advanced organizations drive innovations in reducing their greenhouse gas impacts in their supply chains and beyond. The Center provides technical tools, guidance, educational resources, and opportunities for information sharing and peer exchange among organizations interested in reducing the environmental impacts associated with climate change.