Who will win ‘Sustainable B2B Brand of the Year’?

Here is a rundown of the shortlist:

ABB

Who: Technology leader operating mainly in robotics, power and automation.

Operating since: 1988

Why: Has contributed to the reduction of greenhouse emissions through energy-efficient and renewable energy products. ABB’s CEO, Ulrich Spiesshofer says “We are focusing through our business on efforts to mitigate climate change and are well positioned to help build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.”

Cisco

Who: Technology company that designs and sells consumer products.

Operating since: 1984

Why: Cisco’s main environmental focus has been on energy consumption/greenhouse gas emissions and product end-of-life. It set a five-year goal to reduce operational Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 40% by 2017. According to Cisco’s blog, its customers returned 11,718 metric tonne of Cisco products for reuse and recycling, which Cisco reused over US$365 million in Cisco equipment.

Cisco also plans to avoid one million metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions from its supply chain operations by 2020.

DuPont

Who: Chemical company

Operating since: 1802

Why: DuPont is a strong believer in transparency and every year submits a climate and water performance to the CDP. By 2020 it aims to reduce its emissions intensity by seven per cent and energy intensity by 10 per cent. DuPont is also committed to end hunger, improve operational footprint and enhance global food security.

General Electric

Who: Global industrial company

Operating since: 1892

Why: General Electric has been partnering with like-minded companies to solve “global challenges around energy, efficiency, GHG emissions and water". According to General Electric’s CEO, Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric lowered its energy intensity, GHG emissions and fresh water use by more than 30 per cent between 2005 and 2014.

Immelt says: “We believe that innovation is at the heart of sustainability.”

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Who: Enterprise information company, headquartered in California, US.

Operating since: 2015

Why: Hewlett Packard Company reduced its operations carbon footprint by 14 per cent from 2014 and 29 per cent compared to its 2010 baseline. It has also trained over 77k workers and managers on “social and environmental responsibility management”. Lara Birkes, Chief Sustainability Officer of HPE says the company looks at “sustainability holistically, using the triple bottom framework that emphasizes human, economic, environment progress.”

One of the challenges HPE faces is its growing expectation to meet demands on data centers and energy use.

Intel

Who: Semiconductor manufacturing company

Operating since: 1968

Why: According to Brian Krzanich, Intel’s CEO, since 2008, Intel has been the largest voluntary purchaser of green power in the U.S. Intel has “aggressive 2020 hazardous waste recycling and water use goals” but is committed and focused on cutting emissions, and boosting efficiency in transportation systems, homes, buildings, and cities.

John Deere

Who: Leading manufacturer of farm equipment

Operating since: 1837

Why: John Deere is committed to reducing the amount of energy and water it uses. In 2013 it introduced its first ever diesel hybrid electric drive wheel loader.

One of the company’s goals is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption “per ton of production 15% from 2012 through 2018”.

Johnson Controls

Who: Technology leader operating in automotive, buildings and batteries sectors

Operating since: 1885

Why: Invented the electric thermostat in 1885 which impacted the energy efficiency of buildings. The company has been recognised and won numerous awards for its sustainability efforts over the years. It also contributed to a 41 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions intensity between 2002 and 2014.

Siemens

Who: Largest engineering company in Europe

Operating since: 1847

Why: Has high ambitions to be the “world’s first major industrial company to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030”. Siemens also wants to cut carbon dioxide emissions (which currently total about 2.2 million metric tons a year) in half by as early as 2020.

Veolia

Who: Leading provider of environmental solutions

Operating since: 1853

Why: Veolia’s ambition is to “resource the world” focusing on; resourcing the planet, resourcing the regions, and guaranteeing a safe working environment. In 2014 it generated over 1.1 million MWh of electricity from its energy recovery facilities which was enough “to power 340,000 homes with electricity per year and avoiding 555,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions”.

One of its 2020 targets is to achieve 3.8 billion euros revenue linked to circular economy.

Vodafone

Who: Global telecommunications company

Operating since: 1991

Why: Vodafone is committed to looking for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of its retail stores and contact centres. It runs a number of sustainability events each year and wants to engage its workforce in driving sustainability.

One of its key objectives is to make 75% of employees feel that they are engaged with environmental issues at work by April 2020. The company also introduced ‘Keep Cups’ in all its coffee shops, which in the first couple of months saved 4113 paper cups from going to waste – the equivalent to (as Vodafone states) 12kg plastic saved and 1.7 mature trees saved.

Salesforce

Who: Cloud computing company

Operating since: 1999

Why: Salesforce key advantage is its cloud platform that saves energy and carbon. Customers can also use its platform to build applications that monitors environmental performance. Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff says “Our core technology platform is already 50 times more carbon efficient in reducing customer emissions than on-premise solutions.”

The company’s aim is to achieve RE100 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Who do you want to be the winner? Cast your vote here.

Voting will close on Tuesday 1 November at 6pm.