In the first ever ranking of the Top 100 companies, BP and DuPont have come out as top “leaders” for their climate change strategies. Not surprisingly ExxonMobil is seen as a “laggard”.
The Survey, published by the Ceres Investor Coalition, used a 100-point scoring system, to rank the largest companies in the oil/gas, electric power, auto, chemical, industrial equipment, mining/metals, coal, food products, forest products and air transportation sectors, with operations in the United States.
The scoring system gave most credit to companies with a sustained commitment to controlling greenhouse gas emissions, disclosing data and strategies, supporting regulatory actions, and taking practical, near-term steps to find lasting solutions to climate change.
A summary of the results were as follows:
| Sector | Leaders | Laggards |
| Oil/Gas | BP (90 points*) | ExxonMobil (35) |
| Chemical | DuPont (85**) | PPG (21) |
| Metals/Mining | Alcan (77) & Alcoa (74) | Newmont (24) |
| Electric Power | AEP & Cinergy (both 73) | Sempra Energy (24) |
| Auto | Toyota (65) | Nissan (33) |
So BP came top – just reward some might argue for its commitment to renewable energy. Others might say that Ceres has been conned by BP’s global greenwashing campaign. The survey also doesn’t take into effect the ecological impact of BP’s operations elsewhere – including its recent vaste spill in the Arctic. But, as they say, “Its not easy being green!”