Edelman Submits New Answers to CIC Climate Change Quiz

Remember when you wished you could take that Chemistry 101 final again…not often you have a teacher willing to accept a do-over.

Edelman took the opportunity to rewrite its answers to our April climate survey this week.  This after giving CIC one line somewhat incomplete answers to our April survey and after the now ex-CEO told his staff they need not respond to our four (quite straightforward) questions and also told them, “there are only wrong answers for this guy”.

Out of fairness, we invite all the companies we surveyed to re-submit their own more complete answers as well.

Below are Edelman’s new answers to our climate questions, in full, as sent by Ben Boyd (I redacted Ben’s phone numbers as a courtesy):

Kert,

I appreciated the opportunity to connect with you yesterday on the WBEZ program regarding your survey and The Guardian piece.  As you can imagine, we welcomed the chance to clarify our position and also appreciated today’s update by The Guardian, including your statement.

As I conveyed on-air, you have my apology that your initial request for answers to your survey was so mismanaged by our firm.  Completely unacceptable.

While we have certainly passed your deadline, I would like to resubmit our answer to the CIC Survey for your consideration:

  •          Does your company acknowledge the threat and challenge of climate change as companies like Walmart, Coca Cola, Apple, Google, AIG, Swiss Re, NRG, Unilever and others have done?

Yes. Edelman fully recognizes the reality of, and science behind, climate change, and believes it represents one of the most important global challenges facing society, business and government today. To be clear, we do not accept client assignments that aim to deny climate change.

We believe that business, government and society must work together to address climate change by balancing the interdependent priorities of human development, the environment and the global economy. As such, we support our clients’ efforts to reduce emissions from their operations, improve energy efficiency, advance alternative fuels and sustainable energy solutions and lead in the transition to sustainable and socially responsible business models. We also work with clients to constructively participate in the dialogue around climate change and contribute to policy discussions, with the goal of making progress on this shared global challenge.

  •          Does your company have any internal carbon accounting policies or energy use reduction targets? Have you taken actions to reduce your “carbon footprint”?

As a firm we are determined to reduce emissions and foster an employee culture of sustainability. We hold ourselves accountable to reduce our carbon footprint at every Edelman office around the world.

We have taken proactive steps to reduce our GHG emissions through document management, lighting efficiency, videoconferencing, local “green” citizenship teams, and global E-waste recycling.

We track and report on the progress of these policies through our global citizenship dashboard. Each of the 65 offices in the Edelman network receives a customized dashboard about their specific progress toward these goals and is accountable for the continued progress and improvements made in their office.  Our progress toward these goals will be reported annually in our global citizenship report, the latest of which will be released in October 2014.

  •          Does your company have an internal Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy regarding climate change or the environment generally?

Yes, Edelman has a Global Environmental Policy.

  •          Has your agency advised any client corporations on communications around CSR programs with a specific climate change focus, or on other climate change related public relations efforts?

Yes. Edelman provides counsel to a range of clients across many industries, including counsel on CSR programs and on key issues such as climate change.

If you would like to discuss these answers or if I can be of further help to you, I would welcome the chance to speak.  My mobile number is

Cheers,
ben boyd

president

practices, sectors & offerings

edelman

Posted by Kert Davies