Earlier this month, UPS was informed by the Carbon Disclosure Project that it had received the highest score (99 out of 100) on its Global 500 Leadership Index. UPS is one of only four companies with that top score.  

The Index is comprised of companies that “have displayed the most professional approach to corporate governance regarding climate change information disclosure practices. Companies are scored on their climate change disclosure, and high scores indicate good internal data management and understanding of climate change related issues affecting the company.”  We are always grateful for high scores from third-parties, especially one as prestigious and credible as CDP.

In this case, the CDP score represents more than just an external accolade. It also is an achievement earned through thoughtful action on the company’s part.

Several years ago, UPS made a commitment to be more transparent about its environmental impact, specifically reporting about the carbon associated with its emissions not only with the CDP but in our report and to other organizations. The pledge was based on the growing demand on UPS and our customers to report, manage and then mitigate their carbon footprints. Since most companies ship goods, UPS’s data is vital if they wanted to understand their TOTAL environmental impact – not just within the walls of their operation but also up and down the supply chain, from sourcing to end-delivery and even beyond to the product’s disposition.

Thorough carbon data also helps UPS to both manage and mitigate our own environmental impact, since the majority of our carbon is associated with the vehicles and aircraft that moves our shipments.

Over the past few years, our Sustainability team has worked diligently to uncover all the thousands of data points that are connected with carbon. This includes electric bills from thousands of UPS facilities and fuel use for our fleets around the world. We also have worked with our contracted transportation partners, commercial agents, and business partners who also use fuel and energy on our behalf in order to deliver customer goods to more than 200 countries. We invested in sophisticated software to help us manage the massive amounts of data.

Because customers may be using our data in their own Sustainability Reports, we wanted to make our numbers as credible as possible. We used the international Green House Gas (GHG) Protocol reporting standards. We also had our GHG inventory assured by Deloitte & Touch LLP and verified by SGS, an expert in carbon reporting.

Our carbon footprint is detailed annually in our sustainability report and we also offer a “Carbon Impact Analysis” service to customers.

Of course, we also use this data to help us address our own carbon impact – information that has been critical to measure our success cutting fuel use, miles driven and flown, and improving the fuel-efficiency of our fleet. These numbers enlighten our business plans because we are now just as conscious about our operations’ environmental impact as costs.

So when our sustainability team is busy crunching numbers for the CDP survey and other third-party recognitions, we are focused not only on the rankings that we achieve but also the benefits we can derive for our company, our customers and our earth.