The Greenpeace Cool IT Challenge assesses the external impacts and internal efforts of fifteen global IT companies to mitigate climate change. It originally took the unique approach of identifying by name each company's chief executive in its listings, but appears to have backed off in its recently-released its third round. The good news is that scores continue to improve, but continuing conflicts with another Greenpeace ranking illustrate the complexities of assessing tech company green behavior.

The Challenge uses a 100-point scale, adding together performance in five categories. In the first round (May 2009), no company scored scored above 30 and four scored below 10.

In the second round (Oct 2009), five scored above 30, with IBM and HP scoring in the low 40s. Only one was below 10. 40 out of 100 is not great, but a definite improvement over 20.

The third round (Apr 2010) shows even greater improvement. Four scored above 40: Cisco (62), Ericsson (53), IBM (42), and HP (41). None scored below 10 this year and only three below 20. Software/online/services companies are as evenly distributed across the rankings as hardware companies.

Every ranking uses different criteria, scoring, and populations. This is clearly illustrated when we compare the Challenge to Greenpeace's 14th Guide to Greener Electronics. Released in January, it ranks consumer electronic companies on a different, but overlapping, set of green criteria. Nokia tops the Guide, yet Greenpeace scores the same company in the bottom half of its Challenge. Greenpeace ranks HP #4 in its Challenge, but in the middle of its Guide. Apple is ranked in the Guide, but is absent from the Challenge.

Also, compare Greenpeace's listings to the tech segment of the Newsweek Green Rankings 2009 (USA only), produced in collaboration with three CSR groups. For example, Newsweek ranks Dell as #2 while the Guide places Dell in the middle. Newsweek supports the Challenge's high assessment of HP, while conflicting with the Guide's middling assessment. Does this reflect generally greener performance of companies outside the USA?

This all presents a considerable challenge to a customer, shareholder, or other stakeholder who is trying to do the right thing. Is it time for the green ICT community to agree on a common system that provides both an overall assessment while breaking out specialized assessments for different stakeholder groups, such as equipment lifecycle sustainability for customers?

Greenpeace has published its Cool IT Challenge methodology online and its Guide to Greener Electronics methodology as PDFs available through the above link.