Thoughts from the Chicago Carbon Footprint Conference
18th September 2007 by Andy Ritchie
Just got back from the two-day Carbon Footprint Consumer Products Summit in Chicago.
There were over 160 from a wide variety of businesses, pre-dominantly from the US. A small exhibition beside the main conference hall provided excellent opportunities to meet people and engage in topical discussions. The standard of presentations throughout the event was good, with representatives of many high profile companies providing insight into both the need for, and the mechanics behind, understanding and calculating an organisation’s carbon footprint, or that of their products. Amongst the speakers/panellists on Day 1 were Intel, Nike, Starbucks and Nestle Purina.
On Day 2, I was both chairing the event and also presenting a paper entitled ‘Trusting the Numbers’ along with other papers from organisations such as the US EPA, UPS, DHL, Tesco and Pepsico. There was lively audience participation in the Question & Answer sessions which followed each presentation and in the Expert Panel sessions, indicative of the interest in the subject matter and the effectiveness of the presentations in promoting discussion.
Though the conference may not have provided detailed answers to the many questions on this subject, it certainly highlighted a number of considerations, both positive and negative, which delegates would be able to take back to their organisations and integrate into their business strategies on carbon management.
Disclosure: Andy is the Group Environmental Products Manager for the Lloyd’s Register, the event’s lead sponsor.
Andy Ritchie is the Group Environmental Products Manager for the 