{"id":7103,"date":"2021-12-02T12:05:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T04:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/?p=7103"},"modified":"2021-12-02T14:37:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T06:37:21","slug":"why-samsung-and-xiaomi-failed-our-latest-green-tech-ranking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/blog\/7103\/why-samsung-and-xiaomi-failed-our-latest-green-tech-ranking\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Samsung and Xiaomi Failed our Latest Green Tech Ranking"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u00a9 Sungwoo Lee \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

This time last year, it was absolutely HUGE news.<\/p>\n\n

China, Korea and Japan all issued pledges to go carbon neutral <\/a>in the next few decades. As of 2018, these three East Asian economic powerhouses were responsible for around one third of global carbon emissions, so their promises to take decisive action for the climate are a very big deal. Especially as the region is experiencing record-breaking extreme weather events, including deadly floods in China<\/a> and scorching heat waves in Korea<\/a> and Japan<\/a> that scientists have linked to the climate crisis<\/p>\n\n

But the tech giants in these countries, many household names around the world, just don\u2019t seem to be listening. Compared to the commitments their home countries have issued, they are falling way behind. In our first ever regional tech ranking report, Race to Green<\/a>, Greenpeace East Asia scored 30 of top tech companies in the region on their climate action and renewable energy use, and not a single one scored higher than a C+. Most got Ds.<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n

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\u00a9 Sungwoo Lee \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

How did we make our Greenpeace tech ranking?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

First, we selected 30 of East Asia\u2019s leading tech firms from the 2019 Forbes Top 100 Digital Companies list, taking companies\u2019 domestic market value and social impact into consideration. The list includes giants like Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, and Xiaomi. We then scrutinized each company\u2019s renewable energy commitments <\/strong>and actions. <\/strong>We broke these down into four<\/strong> categories: commitments, actions, data transparency and advocacy (for example, lobbying their national governments to promote renewable energy policy); graded them on each and then assigned a final mark based on those grades.

<\/p>\n\n

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\u00a9 Sungwoo Lee \/ Greenpeace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

How badly did they do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Pretty badly.<\/p>\n\n

Not a single company scored higher than C+ (that was Sony), with most of them failing with a D or worse. The THREE key problems were:<\/p>\n\n

  1. A failure to commit to going 100% renewable by 2030; 
    <\/li>
  2. Setting commitments for decades in the future — far too slow to have any real effect; or,
    <\/li>
  3. Not including the entire supply chain in energy commitments when that can account for the majority of a company\u2019s total emissions. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n

    Shining a spotlight on the leading firms in that list, here are the main takeaways from the results of our digital tech rankings:<\/p>\n\n