When I left Nike six years ago today, the company was just emerging from a dark period where debate over its labor practices overshadowed good work on many fronts.

Yesterday, Nike released its fiscal 2005-2006 Corporate Responsibility Report and announced a series of business targets for 2011:

The targets set benchmarks to improve labor conditions in contract factories, create a climate neutral company, drive sustainable product design and innovation, and unleash potential by giving youth greater access to the benefits of sport.

I'll leave the analysis of labor conditions up to folks more objective than I, and will simply applaud the goals for sustainable product design and youth access to sport.

Let's take a closer look at the climate neutral goal:

Make all Nike brand facilities, retail and business travel climate neutral by 2011.

Make all Nike Inc. facilities climate neutral by 2015.

To that end, Nike has already built six 110 meter tall windmills at its European distribution center, which supply 22 million kilowatt hours annually–enough to power the DC and return a surplus to the grid. And, throughout Europe, 52% of the energy Nike's operations consume comes from renewable sources.

The report also states:

Nike has exceeded its reduction targets for CO2 emissions over the last two years (13% goal, 18% actual reduction) through the World Wildlife Fund’s Climate Savers program. The company also eliminated fluorinated gases (F-gases) across all Nike brand products following 14 years of research and development in the company’s Nike Air cushioning system.

You've come a long way, baby.

Carbon Neutral Journal's kudos are brought to you by Grand Targhee Resort.

Popularity: 8%