14 DAY TRIAL // In a statement issued this week, Greenpeace confirmed the exclusion of two major technology giants from its "Cool IT Leaderboard" for failing to demonstrate commitment to help reduce their carbon footprint.
The non-profit said in a press release issued Wednesday, “Apple & Facebook, two of the sector's most influential brands, have not been included in this year's Leaderboard.”
The environmentalist group specifically outlined that “Apple was not included because its efforts do not meet the Leaderboard criteria.”
“It [Apple] has not demonstrated leadership or elected to pursue market opportunities to drive IT energy solutions that many of its competitors have, despite record profits and large cash reserves,” Greenpeace added.
Apple has roughly $100 billion in the bank, but the company has often stressed that its goal is not to impress environmentalists in order to climb up the green ladder.
Apple discloses many of its efforts on a dedicated section of its web site. Unlike most of its competitors, not only does Apple strive to reduce its own carbon footprint, it also designs the products so that the end-user consumes as little power as possible.
This, and other aspects relating to the way Apple does things, sometimes don’t count as relevant criteria in rankings like the Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, or the group’s Cool IT Leaderboard.
Since Google topped this year’s ranking, Greenpeace upholds that everyone in the IT sector should follow their example (which, by all means, they should):
“Technology giants have a real opportunity to use their power and influence to change how we produce and use energy - Google tops the table because it’s putting its money where its mouth is by pumping investment into renewable energy,” said Greenpeace International IT analyst Gary Cook.
“The IT sector might like to consider itself forward-thinking, but it is keeping far too quiet while the dirty energy industry continues to exert undue influence on both the political process and financial markets,” added Cook.