The Importance of Top-Level Commitment and Communication
Because reducing emissions is a companywide process, communicating support from the top of the company is critical. This top-level communication serves both internal and external communications needs. While the need for communication to outside stakeholders may be clear, internal communication can be equally important, especially if the company’s climate action is based on a bottom-up approach that requires initiative and action from managers in distributed business units.
CEO communications
Public statements from a company CEO and other top managers — in the form of speeches, media interviews, and outreach efforts — are necessary to show a company’s climate commitment.
John Browne, CEO of BP, may be the best-known example of a CEO who has been vocal and prominent on this issue. He has made numerous public speeches about the importance of addressing climate change, describing actions BP has taken to reduce its climate impact. In early 1998 he spoke about BP’s actions in a speech at Goldman Sachs, saying:
”…last spring, we began to take an active part in the public debate on climate change…because the issue matters to our customers and our staff and to the society in which we work…there is now an effective consensus that there is a link between the concentration of carbon dioxide and the increase in temperature. There is a case for precautionary action…[and] last year we began to take precautionary action first by measuring our own emissions…and then starting to target them.”
Browne does not just talk about climate change in isolated speeches. Instead he consistently talks about BP’s climate actions in ongoing public statements. For example when speaking to shareholders in 2003, he updated them on BP’s climate commitment, saying:
“In 2002 we announced a new approach on climate change. Having already lowered our emissions of greenhouse gases by 10 per cent, we’re now committed that net emissions will be at these reduced levels at the end of [the] decade.
Other CEOs have taken similar prominent stances on climate change. DuPont has clearly been a corporate leader on climate issues, making a commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 65% of 1990 levels by 2010, and to hold energy use to 1990 levels. The roots of DuPont’s climate commitment go back over a decade to an overall environmental pledge by then-CEO Ed Woolard, who once said that CEO stood for “chief environmental officer.” His successors have continued this approach, including current DuPont CEO Chad Holliday, who has said:
“At DuPont we are preparing our company for what we see as a long journey to a more climate-friendly and environmentally sound global economy.”
Holliday has also taken his commitment to sustainable development beyond company statements, co-authoring the book Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development.
Other CEOs have not been as public in their methods, but make statements regarding climate on company environmental reports. For example, Entergy’s GHG emissions reduction commitment and progress report begins with a quote from CEO Wayne Leonard:
“All of us have a moral obligation to future generations to responsibly manage the risks and costs of climate change. It is incumbent upon every individual and business to begin taking action today to limit greenhouse gas emissions and reduce these risks.”
Similarly, Ontario Power Generation CEO Ron Osbourne, in the company’s climate action plan, states:
“Ontario Power Generation is committed to becoming a sustainable energy company. To meet our target to stabilize net greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels beyond 2000, we use options including nuclear energy, energy efficiency, emissions trading, green energy and carbon sequestration.”
While these examples show different approaches, they all share one common aspect: demonstrating a real climate commitment from top management to a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
Additional internal communications strategies
While expressing senior management support for climate policies is important, it is only one component of internal communication. Internal corporate communications should be two-way, providing for communication up from employees and line managers. This approach provides three benefits: it allows senior managers to know how a company climate policy is impacting business units, allows employees to suggest ways to implement a climate policy, and helps the company tell “stories” about specific ways in which it is reducing emissions. While top-down communication tends to be common and well established within most companies, methods of bottom-up exchange of ideas may need to be developed. Some companies have created employee focus groups, surveys, task forces, and similar approaches that sometimes mirror company efforts to get feedback from customers.
Because a corporate climate action plan is not a static document or one-time effort, ongoing communication is critical to continued improvement and success. Such communication can take several forms, including company newsletters, speeches and presentations by senior managers, and periodic meetings between different levels of managers and employees. Corporate intranets offer a medium through which messages can be posted as well as providing a place for ongoing discussions via message boards, running employee surveys, and tracking actions that employees are taking to reduce emissions.