Climate change calls for cuts in carbon emissions. These US companies are leading the way. America's Climate Leaders list relies on data from market research firm Statista. It recognizes companies' efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

A new list of America’s Climate Leaders will be released in 2026, and businesses now have a chance to be included in the ranking.

The 2026 list will be the fourth year of a partnership between USA TODAY and Statista to produce rankings that analyze U.S. companies’ carbon emissions.

The project lists qualifying businesses based on an analysis of how much progress they have made in reducing their greenhouse gas emission intensity.

The ranking helps readers to identify companies making progress in the fight against climate change, information that is not readily provided by official federal sources. Businesses can now submit their information to be included in the 2026 list.

The survey can be found here. The deadline for completion is Dec. 21, 2025.

While some emissions data is public record, the federal government does not present its data in an official ranking. For years, the lack of such a ranking has left an information gap for people looking to research the companies they do business with.

The 2026 version of the America’s Climate Leaders ranking will evaluate U.S.-based companies on how much progress they made in reducing their greenhouse gas emission intensity between 2022 and 2024.  

The ranking is based on emissions intensity, a measure of the amount of greenhouse gases a company produces relative to its revenue, making comparisons between different-sized enterprises possible.

Greenhouse gas emissions are divided into three types when it comes to businesses, called Scope 1, 2 and 3.

Scopes are categories of emissions tied to a company, from its energy purchases to its buildings, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Companies will have the option of including Scope 3 emissions but only Scope 1 and 2 are required. As the calculation of Scope 1 and cope 2 emissions is far more standardized, only these will be included in the calculation of the emissions intensity. Companies have the option of including their Scope 3 emissions in their submission, and these will be added in the ranking to give credit for their transparency. 

To take part, companies must be headquartered in the United States with a minimum revenue in 2024 of $50 million.

Statista is a German-based market and consumer data company. Please email any further questions you may have to climate-us@statista.com. 

Contributing: Beth Weise

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What companies are ‘America’s Climate Leaders’? 2026 submissions open.

Reporting by Joel Shannon, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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