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Ford Will Issue Report on Global Climate Change

Ford Motor Company announced today it will issue a report on climate change by the end of the year.

The report will examine the business implications of greenhouse gas emissions, with reference to government policies and regulations, Ford’s product and manufacturing facilities actions, and advanced technology development.

We have long identified climate change as a serious environmental issue, and shareholders are increasingly asking about the risks as well as the opportunities associated with it. It’s time for a broader, more inclusive public dialogue on the complex and important challenge of climate change; our report will be part of our contribution to that dialogue.

—Bill Ford, Chairman and CEO

Several shareholder groups had been requesting that sort of report from Ford, and had earlier filed a shareholder resolution to that effect. The groups withdrew the resolution this week in light of Ford’s announcement. A similar resolution is pending with GM.

The report will focus primarily on the company’s products and facilities in its core North American market that accounts for roughly two-thirds of its annual sales. The Ford report also will assess the evolving role of new technologies such as hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles in light of the climate change issue.

“We congratulate Ford for leading the U.S. auto industry in responding to shareholder concerns by addressing a variety of climate change-related policy and business scenarios,” said Sister Patricia Daly, OP, executive director of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment (CRI), a coalition of investors with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), which has been encouraging more climate risk disclosure from Ford and other U.S. companies in recent years.

Ford will draft its climate change report in consultation with a wide variety of climate change and policy experts as well as with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and the Boston-based Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups and founder of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR).

Comments

The Icelander

I'll give you a brief summary of the report:
"Climate change is a serious problem. We at Ford recommend you all buy the high-margin SUVs. We'll throw an electric motor in there and call it a hybrid so you feel good about it. Just don't take the train, or move closer to work and sell your car, or buy a bike. We at Ford wouldn't want you to actually sacrifice anything for some stupid biosphere."

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