CEO  UPS, Scott Davis

Anayo Okolie

United Parcel Services (UPS) has earned the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) ‘A+’ status, for meeting the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard.

A statement from the company quoted the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of UPS, Scott Davis, as saying that the entire report was prepared at the A+ level and independently assured by Deloitte & Touche LLP to achieve the level A+ with the GRI cross-examination and confirmation the company’s adherence to the guidelines for A+ level reporting.

Davis said one of the guiding principles to UPS’s sustainability strategy was commitment to transparency. “We are disclosing more information than ever. We have reported our five-year progress, successes and challenges. Now, we are focused ahead.”
According to him, UPS views sustainability reporting as a valuable tool for customers, investors and other stakeholders to evaluate the performance and commitment of the company to truly sustainable business practices.

“The Company met its goals for employee safety and satisfaction, auto accident frequency, aircraft emissions and full-time employee retention as well as efficiency of jet fuel use and charitable contributions,” Davis said.
Similarly, the Chief Sustainability Officer, UPS, Scott Wicker, cited the achievements of the company, using advanced route-planning technology, revealed that UPS avoided driving 137 million kilometres, saving 31.8 million litres of petrol and 83,000 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions.

He said the expanding deployment of telemetric technology eliminated over 98 million minutes of engine idling time, saving 2.5 million litres of fuel.

Wicker noted that UPS achieved a net reduction in US domestic energy use at its facilities and earned the highest carbon disclosure project score among all US companies and tied with three others for the top score in the world.

“In 2011, overall emissions declined 3.5 percent, though package volume grew by 1.8 per cent, employees made 100,000 pledges to act more environmentally responsible. Our annual sustainability report encapsulates the performance, ambitions and goals of UPS from economic, social and environmental perspectives,” he said.