AN EVALUATION OF CORPORATE VOLUNTARY CLIMATE ACTIONS: A FOCUS ON THE RENTAL CAR & TRUCK INDUSTRY

Abstract

Climate change is a global problem with social, economic, and environmental consequences, resulting primarily from reliance on fossil fuels like coal and oil. In the absence of federal climate policy, some companies have taken the initiative to voluntarily take actions to measure and disclosure their carbon emissions and related climate actions. A non-profit organization, Climate Counts, believes that business has the power to change the outcomes related to climate change, and consumers have the power to change business. Climate Counts provides a scoring system, which is an effort to bring consumers and companies together in the fight against climate change. By providing a score of 0-100 to individual companies, Climate Counts compares companies with industries on their published and documented commitments to address climate change. This Master’s Project develops the scorecard for the rental car and truck industry. The evaluation includes six companies in the rental car and truck industry, all of which have annual revenues of over one billion dollars. The scores for the six companies varied from zero to 24 with a median score of 18.5. While the top score of 24 held by the Avis Budget Group and Penske demonstrates that they are their industry’s leaders in corporate climate actions, the relatively low score also indicates that car rental industry has room for significant improvements in voluntary climate change action. Companies that choose to utilize and respond to this evaluation are leading the charge in one of the fastest growing corporate disciplines. They have the willingness to develop and implement a climate strategy that works for executives, employees, customers, and other stakeholders.