Major U.S. Companies Join White House Climate Action Pledge

As key international climate negotiations near, 81 additional companies joined the White House-led American Business Act on Climate Pledge. Companies making the pledge have set significant greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy sourcing goals for 2020 and beyond, and are focusing on increasing energy efficiency, boosting low-carbon investing and making sustainability more accessible to low-income Americans.

This second round of business pledges at the White House – in addition to 13 company pledges announced in July - includes 19 businesses that work directly with Ceres, a sustainability advocacy group, or its climate policy coalition, Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP): Autodesk, Best Buy, Bloomberg, CA Technologies, Dell, eBay, EMC, General Mills, IKEA, Kellogg’s, Levi Strauss & Co., L’Oreal, Mars, Nestle, Nike, PG&E,  Starbucks, Unilever and The Walt Disney Company.

“We applaud the growing number of countries that have already set ambitious targets for climate action,” the American Business Act on Climate Pledge states. “In this context, we support the conclusion of a climate change agreement in Paris that takes a strong step forward toward a low-carbon, sustainable future.”

By signing the pledge, companies are:

• Voicing support for a strong outcome at the COP21 international climate talks in Paris
• Demonstrating an ongoing commitment to climate action by announcing significant new pledges to reduce their emissions, increase low-carbon investments, deploy more clean energy and take other actions to build more sustainable businesses and tackle climate change.
• Setting an example for their peers by mobilizing for leadership and action on climate change challenges and goals.

“It’s enormously gratifying to be working directly with so many companies that are making the White House pledge,” said Ceres president Mindy Lubber, who joined the 19 Ceres-related companies at the White House event, and introduced Vice President Joseph Biden. “Such leadership is critical in tackling this colossal global threat. But, of course, they can do far more if a strong climate agreement is achieved in Paris.”

Among the new pledge commitments by companies that are Ceres corporate network members or BICEP members:

• Best Buy commits to reduce carbon emissions at its North American facilities by 45 percent by 2020 (from 2009 levels). Today’s new commitment is more than double its previous goal of a 20 percent reduction by 2020.

• PG&E commits to invest about $3 billion a year to modernize the electric grid so it can better integrate distributed solar, energy storage, electric vehicles and other low-carbon technologies. It also commits to support implementation of EPA’s Clean Power Plan and provide customers with electricity that is more than 60 percent carbon-free by 2020.

• IKEA commits to produce as much renewable energy as the total energy consumed in global operations by 2020. This goal has already been met in the U.S. due to the IKEA Group’s major wind farm in Illinois.

• Kellogg’s commits to further reduce energy and GHG emissions by an additional 15 percent from its 2015 performance.

• L’Oreal USA commits to reduce CO2 emissions at its plants and distribution centers by 60 percent in absolute terms by 2020 (from 2005 baseline.)

For more information about all of the company pledges announced at the White House, read this White House Fact Sheet.

About Ceres: Ceres is a nonprofit organization mobilizing business leadership on climate change, water scarcity and other global sustainability challenges. Ceres directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of more than 110 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $13 trillion. Ceres also directs BICEP, an advocacy coalition of 36 businesses committed to working with policy makers to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation. For more information, visit www.ceres.org or follow on Twitter @CeresNews.