BusinessWeek's Top Green Companies

To publish the special report "The Top Green Companies," BusinessWeek teamed up with the Climate Group, a British organization that serves as a clearing house for information on carbon reduction, and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, the leading Wall Street green investment research firm.

Together with a panel of expert judges drawn from academic institutions, BusinessWeek has identified and ranked the companies that have shown the greatest leadership in cutting their gas emissions. "The Top Green Companies" is featured in BusinessWeek's December 12, 2005 issue and also includes best practices, effective policies, and what kinds of results to expect.

"The world is changing faster than anyone expected. Not only is the earth warming, bringing more intense storms and causing Arctic ice to vanish, but the political and policy landscape is being transformed even more dramatically. Already, certain industries are facing mandatory limits on emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in some of the 129 countries that have signed the Kyoto Protocol. This month representatives of those nations are gathering in Montreal to develop post-Kyoto plans. Meanwhile, U.S. cities and states are rushing to impose their own regulations.

A surprising number of companies in old industries such as oil and materials as well as high tech are preparing for this profoundly altered world. They are moving swiftly to measure and slash their greenhouse gas emissions. And they are doing it despite the Bush Administration's opposition to mandatory curbs."

The leading green companies of the decade: