While rankings are always susceptible to debate, Newsweek did a splendid job giving importance to often overlooked grey areas such as excessive water consumption. However the rankings raise some important questions including applying double standards in different markets.

While Coca Cola Company - the second greenest company in the ranking after Coca Cola Enterprises - might be doing all right things in US, its business practices have raised questions in other markets. Both the companies were praised for their focus on recycling and water efficiency but any environmentalist will be quick to point out the exactly opposite policies being undertaken by Coke in Asian countries. Lack of regulatory framework or loose restrictions in many developing countries allow corporations to act according to their whims and fancies rather than apply the standards of their home country, which are often higher than those of local market.

Another factor indirectly related to the green theme is the use of genetically modified (GM) materials in the end products. Even big and globally respected companies like Nestle promote GM food in developing and underdeveloped countries. This is in direct contrast of the complete absence of GM material in their European and North American portfolio.

One of the largest packaged food companies in North America, ConAgra Foods Inc topped the list the other way round. The Nebraska based company was originally ranked 497 out of the total 500 companies reviewed. While Newsweek preferred to keep mum about the exceptionally low ranking for ConAgra Foods, it published a correction later stating that a miscalculation led to the low ranking. Perhaps as a result, ConAgra is the most talked company in any discussion related to the Newsweek rankings on the web.

The company was subsequently ranked 342 in the corrected list. However, the past record of ConAgra in environmental issues has not been great. The company scored a paltry 4 points out of 100 in a 2006 report by CERES which dealt with corporate response to global warming. On its website, ConAgra discloses that its carbon footprint for the fiscal year 2008 (June 2007 - July 2008) stood at 2 million metric tons. Around 43 percent of the emissions came from the purchased electricity while the rest was accounted for the internal sources including on-site fuel use, fugitive process emissions, transportation fleet and other miscellaneous sources. The carbon emission data of ConAgra doesn’t go down very well with industry standards.

While Apple, being in the technology business reported emissions of 10.2 million metric tons; ConAgra’s carbon footprint should be much higher given that it is a food processor. Actually, the figure of 2 million metric tons does not include emissions on the account of its supply chain, product retail distribution and consumer use. Not to mention that the transportation of raw material from suppliers to manufacturing plants and transportation of finished goods back to distribution centers and subsequently to customers will form a big part of overall carbon footprint.

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