For 20 years, Environmental Defense Fund has partnered with businesses to achieve ambitious environmental goals. Our blend of science and economics challenges companies to:
- become more efficient,
- create new business models and
- transform their industries through environmental innovation.
Our credibility in the corporate sector has heightened our ability to deliver results. In a recent Financial Times study of 850 business-nonprofit partnerships, EDF was ranked as the top environmental partner globally.
In 2010, we will continue to transform industry sectors through direct partnerships and will grow our Innovation Exchange, a powerful new online community dedicated to promoting rapid and widespread adoption of environmental innovation throughout corporate America.
Breakthrough: Creating a green innovation community
Our Innovation Exchange is a first-of-its-kind online community designed to help companies large and small make green business the new business as usual. Covering industry sectors from financial to agriculture to health care to real estate, the Exchange is designed to engage businesses across the nation in cutting-edge sustainability practices.
The Exchange translates two decades of EDF’s work into a comprehensive set of recommendations, case studies, publications and tools to help companies reduce their environmental footprints and operate more efficiently. It also creates an open forum where companies can share ideas, collaborate on new innovations and work across sectors in nontraditional ways.
Success story: Tomorrow’s leaders making a difference today
EDF’s Climate Corps is a Peace Corps-like program that matches MBA students with companies seeking to reduce their environmental footprint. Working on site with host companies for the summer, Climate Corps students are tasked with recommending, and in some cases implementing, solutions to cut energy use and reduce the companies’ global warming pollution.
In 2009 the program matched 26 students with 23 companies and delivered extraordinary results. Identified energy savings could power 14,000 homes, potential greenhouse gas reductions would be equivalent to taking 12,000 SUVs off the road and could save the companies more than $54 million.
Corporate Partnerships Goals for 2010
Transforming Walmart’s supply chain. As China’s eighth-largest trading partner, Walmart is uniquely positioned to lead the world in environmentally friendly manufacturing practices. Working with EDF, Walmart has established specific targets for energy efficiency, water reductions and other environmental improvements within its suppliers in China.
Helping Walmart meet those targets will be one of our main priorities. Walmart will begin its efforts by working with its top 200 Chinese suppliers of plastics, ceramics, glass and textiles to adopt process changes over the course of the year that will reduce their energy and water consumption by at least 10%.
Creating greener vehicle fleets. Building on our pilot program with fleet manager PHH Arval, EDF has designed a Green Fleet Framework that provides fleet managers with the tools to measure their emissions, set goals for reductions, improve vehicle selection and maintenance and train drivers in more efficient driving practices. Numbering over 10 million on the road, fleet vehicles are a major source of global warming pollution.
EDF will work to spread the rapid adoption of fleet greenhouse gas management through expanded outreach both online and on the ground.
Expanding Climate Corps. Building on the success of our Climate Corps program, we are working to enroll 50 host companies for the summer of 2010. By providing companies with clear, results-oriented information on energy efficiency, our Climate Corps program is helping companies reduce their environmental footprint while saving money and creating future business leaders who understand the intersection between profit and planet.