According to a recent article by Joel Makower, Executive Editor at GreenBuzz, the EPA launched The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership with ten large supermarkets and suppliers in late November. Refrigeration consumes massive amounts of energy for retailers and brands and the writer of the article on Greenbiz.com wrote that “someone once told me that Wal-Mart’s second-biggest cost (after people) is energy, and that its biggest energy cost is refrigeration.

GreenChill aims to promote technologies, strategies, and practices that protect the ozone layer, reduce greenhouse gases, and reduce energy costs. EPA estimates that “Improved equipment design and service could reduce refrigerant emissions by one million metric tons of carbon equivalent per year, the equivalent of taking 800,000 automobiles off the road every year.”

The GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership is an EPA cooperative alliance with the supermarket industry and other stakeholders to promote the adoption of technologies, strategies, and practices that reduce emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) and increase refrigeration system energy efficiency.

Working with EPA, GreenChill Partners:

- Transition to non-ozone-depleting refrigerants.

- Reduce emissions of both ozone-depleting and non-ozone-depleting refrigerants.

- Promote supermarkets’ adoption of advanced refrigeration technologies that offer:

- Reduced ODS/GHG emissions (e.g., reduced refrigerant charges and leak rates);

- Potential for improved energy efficiency;

- Reduced maintenance and refrigerant costs;

- Extended shelf life of perishable food products; and

- Improved system design, operations, and maintenance

and Reduce the total impact of supermarkets on ozone depletion and global warming.

Joel Makower writes further “A few years ago, Coca-Cola examined its carbon footprint and found that refrigeration — in vending machines and drink dispensers in restaurants — represented the biggest portion. It formed a partnership with Pepsi, McDonald’s, Unilever, and other big companies — not to mention Greenpeace — to form Refrigerants Naturally!. Coke, for its part, estimated that by replacing its 10 million vending machines with the most energy-efficient models would save nearly a half-biliion dollars in energy costs annually, the equivalent of taking 750,000 cars off the road. That’s almost as much as GreenChill’s anticipated overall annual benefit.”

Friends of the Earth International recently posted on their website a free downloadable PDF report containing nine testimonies from community members around the globe who have dramatic first-hand experience of the devastating impacts of climate change. The report was released ahead of the UN Climate talks taking place as we speak in Bali. The nine testimonies chronicle specific environmental changes and how they are impacting the lives of the local area. According to CENSAT Director Tatiana Roa Avendano said: “We are on the brink of a global climatic catastrophe and poor, vulnerable communities - who are the least responsible for climate change - are already being hit by its impacts including displacement, disease, the destruction of livelihoods and ecosystems. Industrialised countries must accept responsibility for deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions within the coming fifteen years.. The costs of climate adaptation in developing countries will amount to many billions of dollars per year.”

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According to the Retail Industry Report 2007 published by Geneva-based research firm Covalence, both retailers are benefiting from their proactive stance on environmental and social responsibility issues. Wal-Mart recently announced that it would only sell concentrated laundry detergent to reduce plastic and water use, promote sales of inexpensive compact fluorescent light bulbs, measure the carbon footprint of seven product category supply chains. Wal-Mart has teamed up with the Carbon Disclosure Project to reduce the impact of seven widely popular product categories - beer, DVD’s, milk, soap, soda, toothpaste, and vacuum cleaners. 20^th Century Fox, has already begun its own supply chain analysis. CDP Chief Executive Paul Dickinson hopes that “By engaging its supply chain in the CDP process, Wal-Mart will encourage its suppliers to measure and manage their green house gas emissions, and ultimately reduce the total carbon footprint of Wal-Mart’s indirect emissions. We look forward to other global corporations following Wal-Mart’s lead and partnering with CDP.”

Marks & Spencer recently published its fourth annual Corporate Responsibility Report and is available at this link.

The Report indicates how well the retailer has performed on 22 targets established in their previous report. Marks & Spencer is a member of the 2006 Dow Jones Sustainability Index, the 2007 FTSE4Good Index, the 2007 Global most sustainable corporations and a Platinum Company in the 2007 Business in the Community Corporate Responsibility Index.

Want to view more CSR reports? Sign up at corporateregister.com – it’s free.

Wal-Mart, which buys green supplies for its own operations, will now be approaching suppliers with bigger orders as it becomes the buyer for the Clinton Climate Initiative. The partnership will take advantage of Wal-Mart’s purchasing experience and scale and allow Wal-Mart to come to suppliers with bigger orders for deeper discounts. The collaboration is expected to include 1,100 U.S. cities and a climate organization that represents 40 of the world’s largest cities. News of the partnership was announced Nov. 1, 2007 to coincide with a Seattle climate summit of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Clinton Climate Initiative. The aim of the effort is to save cities money on environmentally friendly supplies by buying bulk and to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels to produce electricity. Read article