The Climate Pledge announces 86 new signatories

Amazon and Global Optimism have announced that 86 new signatories recently joined The Climate Pledge, including Nespresso, ASOS, Procter & Gamble, HP, and Salesforce. Gaining momentum in India, The Climate Pledge also sees three new signatories from India – UPL Limited, Greenko Group, and GODI – joining the existing Indian signatory, Infosys Limited. The announcement means more than 201 companies and organizations from around the world have now pledged to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals 10 years early—and achieve net-zero carbon by 2040.

Combined, Pledge signatories generate over $1.8 trillion in global annual revenues and have more than 7 million employees across 26 industries in 21 countries. Climate Pledge signatories are expected to collectively mitigate 1.98 billion metric tons (BMT) of carbon emissions from a 2020 baseline. This is equivalent to 5.4% of current global annual emissions—demonstrating the collective impact The Climate Pledge is expected to have in addressing climate change and prompting more action to tackle the climate crisis.

• Measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis.
  
• Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real business changes and innovations, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, materials reductions, and other carbon emission elimination strategies.
  
• Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially beneficial offsets to achieve net-zero annual carbon emissions by 2040.
  

Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019 as a commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040. Since then, major companies and organizations worldwide have signed on, playing a critical role in stimulating investment in the development of low-carbon products and services.

Many of the new Pledge signatories are already making significant progress toward reducing their carbon emissions.

Since 2010, Procter & Gamble has reduced its absolute emissions across global operations by 52%. The company has also increased its purchase of renewable electricity by 97% and partnered with consumers to make sustainability effortless at home with products like Tide and Ariel, which have helped reduce carbon emissions by 15 million tons through products designed for cold-water washing. Procter & Gamble recently announced an ambition to reach net-zero emissions across its operations, transportation, and supply chain, from raw material to retailer, by 2040.

Nespresso, known for its coffee expertise from bean to capsule to cup, is announcing an important milestone for its climate journey: Every cup of Nespresso coffee, both at-home and professional, will be carbon neutral by 2022.

ASOS announced that as part of its Carbon 2020 strategy, it has reduced its emissions every year since 2015 and cut emissions intensity by 30% in this time—the equivalent of avoiding 110,000 metric tons of carbon emissions.

HP released a series of bold climate commitments, including a goal of achieving net-zero emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases across the company’s value chain by 2040, as well as a 50% absolute reduction by 2030 compared to 2019.

Salesforce has made climate action contractual, by integrating climate provisions into supply chain contracts to help suppliers reduce their carbon emissions.

Executives from those companies echo other Climate Pledge signatories in saying they all share the same goal.

“Addressing climate change effectively requires collaboration across industries and credible science-based actions,” said David S. Taylor, chairman of the board, president, and CEO of Procter & Gamble. “P&G has made significant progress over the past decade and we know we must do more. The task ahead is urgent, difficult, and much bigger than any single company can solve alone. P&G is proud to join The Climate Pledge as we work together to preserve our shared home for generations to come.”

“The urgency of the climate crisis demands that we take bold action to protect our planet, and The Climate Pledge is another step in the right direction,” said Enrique Lores, president and CEO of HP Inc. “HP has committed to some of the most comprehensive and aggressive climate actions in the technology sector, and we are driving this agenda across our product and service portfolio, operational footprint, and broader value chain to maximize our impact. We have a huge opportunity to power the future growth of our business while creating a more sustainable future.”

“At UPL, we believe that sustainable agriculture has the ability to feed the Earth’s growing population more plentiful, nutritious food while using less land, water, and energy resources than ever before. UPL’s OpenAg strategy is helping drive our approach to sustainability. By identifying and partnering with stakeholders throughout the food system that share similar sustainability goals and complementary approaches, we can unlock possibilities that no single actor could achieve on their own. In joining The Climate Pledge, UPL is reinforcing its commitment to sustainability, to collaboration, to learning, and to leadership in our industry. We are excited, and inspired, to join a community that will share knowledge, ideas, and best practice,” said Jai Shroff, Global CEO, UPL Ltd.

Businesses have played a role in contributing to climate change, but deep cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases could stabilize increasing temperatures. This is why urgent, ambitious action by companies around the world is needed. The Climate Pledge signatories are uniquely positioned to rise to the challenge of addressing climate change and helping to create the low-carbon economy of the future.

“As a leading renewable energy company with an operational portfolio of 7.2 GW and a pipeline of 15 GW of wind, solar, hydro, and energy storage assets spread across 15 states in India, Greenko is proud to be joining The Climate Pledge and making the commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040 — 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement. Greenko will continue to build upon its hallmark of environmental stewardship, through greenhouse gas mitigation, climate risk management, conservation and restoration of habitats, as well as circular economic approaches,” said Anil Kumar Chalamalasetty, Founder, CEO and MD, Greenko Group.

“Climate change is a serious threat of our times, and needs bold steps by companies to come together and look for solutions. GODI has been following carbon neutral processes in several ways since its inception. GODI is committed to manufacture Lithium-ion cells, Sodium-ion cells and Supercapacitors, and Recycling of used batteries into a valuable materials stream returning to the Giga-scale battery cells production in a closed-loop supply chain for the first time in India for cleaner & greener transportation (Electric Vehicles) and renewable Energy Storage System (ESS) applications. GODI is ambitious to become India’s first Giga-factory with carbon-neutral processes by 2023. We are excited to join Amazon and other signatories of The Climate Pledge and look forward to strengthening our resolve for greener technologies and products,” said Mahesh Godi, Founder and CEO, GODI India Pvt Ltd.

"Climate change is the defining challenge of our time,” said Nick Beighton, ASOS CEO. “Businesses must take bold and decisive action to find solutions to the unfolding crisis, both individually and collectively, which is why ASOS is proud to stand with Amazon, Global Optimism, and the other signatories of The Climate Pledge, and to be joining the UNFCCC’s Race to Zero campaign as a result. Doing so reinforces our commitment to sustainability and means we’re joining a community that will share knowledge, ideas, and best practice to achieve this important mission."

“Now is the time for urgent action. We’re entering the decisive decade—it’s not just necessary to take actions to protect the Earth for future generations, but for the future of humanity,” said Guillaume Le Cunff, Nestlé Nespresso CEO. “I believe the private sector can be a powerful catalyst for change, if all actors act together. This is why we are a proud signatory of The Climate Pledge, a net-zero commitment in line with our carbon neutrality commitment, which will be achieved through significant decarbonization of our direct emissions and global supply chain emissions, alongside the use of high-quality in-setting and offsetting initiatives to neutralize any remaining emissions.”

“We are in a climate crisis. Salesforce believes that business is the greatest platform for change, and we consider the environment a key stakeholder. That’s why Salesforce is proud to join The Climate Pledge to accelerate and scale business climate action to drive meaningful change. Every company has an important role in the fight to save our planet," said Suzanne DiBianca, Salesforce’s chief impact officer. "We’re committed to bringing the full power of Salesforce to create a sustainable future by accelerating the world's largest businesses to net-zero; sequestering as much as 100 gigatons of carbon through conserving, restoring, and growing 1 trillion trees; and energizing the ecopreneur revolution.”

The announcement of the new Climate Pledge signatories responds to the findings of the latest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which underscores the need for increased urgency in addressing the climate crisis. Unless there are immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, limiting warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius or even 2 degrees Celsius will be out of reach.

“The recent report released by the IPCC is the starkest warning yet that the systems supporting human life are reaching tipping points and that the window of time to act decisively is narrowing,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate chief and now founding partner of Global Optimism. “This wake up call from science must be faced with courage and conviction. In this light, it’s encouraging that 86 more companies – some of the largest household names in the world – are now joining The Climate Pledge, committing to accelerate their actions to tackle climate change in a timely fashion, and playing their part in building a low-carbon economy. I look forward to the fruits of the leadership we will see from this collective of 200 signatories that are now part of The Climate Pledge.”

“In this light, it’s encouraging that 86 more companies—some of the largest household names in the world—are now joining The Climate Pledge, committing to accelerate their actions to tackle climate change in a timely fashion, and playing their part in building a low-carbon economy. I look forward to the fruits of the leadership we will see from this collective of 200 signatories that are now part of The Climate Pledge.”

Learn more about The Climate Pledge.

Information about all 201 signatories that have committed to The Climate Pledge and the actions they are taking to decarbonize their businesses is available at The Climate Pledge website, including:

UPL Ltd. is a global provider of sustainable agriculture products and solutions, bringing biologicals and traditional crop protection solutions to more than 138 countries around the world. UPL is reimagining sustainability through our OpenAg focus. With farmers at our centre, we are building a network that redefines the way the entire industry thinks and works – open to innovative ideas and new answers as we strive to make every single food product more sustainable.

Greenko Group is a leading renewable energy company with an operational portfolio of 7.2 GW and a pipeline of 15 GW of wind, solar, hydro, and energy storage assets spread across 15 states in India. Greenko is developing multiple utility-scale, long-duration pumped storage projects across India to deliver cost-effective renewable power to the public and private sectors to help them meet their climate change commitments. To decarbonize hard-to-abate industrial use cases, the company produces and supplies Zero-Carbon-Molecules. With a core belief in inclusive development, Greenko also actively contributes to local development and community programs. The hallmark of Greenko’s environmental stewardship is GHG mitigation, climate risk management, conservation and restoration of habitats, and circular economic approaches.

GODI is an innovative organization focused on research and development (R&D), and Giga scale Manufacturing (Indigenous Gigafactory) and Recycling of sustainable green energy storage technology. The company is committed to achieving a zero-carbon footprint by promoting and adopting environmentally benign technologies in the fastest and safest possible way. In this domain, GODI is a first-of-its-kind company based in India that is innovating across all verticals of energy storage technology. GODI has India’s largest R&D house with a large team of scientists and engineers, with vast expertise in electrochemistry, material science, thermal engineering, and advanced manufacturing. The company’s efforts are to develop ground-breaking materials with unique cell chemistries, superiorly engineered Li-ion cells, Na-ion cells and Supercapacitors by using environmentally friendly electrode making processes and Recycling of spent batteries towards a carbon neutral Giga-scale manufacturing.

Earlier this year, HP Inc. released a series of bold climate commitments. By 2040, the company’s entire value chain—from operations to products to global supply chain—will achieve net-zero emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases, including a 50% absolute reduction by 2030 compared to 2019. Overall, HP is focused on accelerating strategies intended to decouple growth from carbon emissions and resource consumption, drive innovation, and transform design and business models. These include print and computer as a service, sustainable materials, supply chain collaboration, investments in renewable electricity, and advances in product energy efficiency.

P&G serves 5 billion consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands. In 2007, P&G established its first goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its manufacturing facilities. P&G has expanded and accelerated these efforts to address GHG emissions across the life cycle of its products and operations. Since 2010, the company has reduced absolute emissions across global operations by 52%, increased purchase of renewable electricity by 97%, and partnered with consumers to make sustainability effortless at home with products like Tide and Ariel that have helped reduce 15 million tons of carbon through cold water washing. P&G recently announced they are accelerating progress with an ambition to reach net-zero emissions across its operations, transportation, and supply chain, from raw material to retailer, by 2040. This net-zero ambition reaffirms P&G’s priorities to reduce emissions now, with the tools available today, while innovating toward a greener future.

Salesforce

As the world’s No. 1 customer relationship management (CRM) platform, Salesforce believes business is the greatest platform for change, and it considers the environment a key stakeholder. From its suppliers and its customers, to its technology and its brand, Salesforce uses its biggest levers of influence as agents for change in the greatest and most high-stakes challenge ever—the climate emergency. Salesforce’s sustainability initiatives focus on the global journey to net-zero emissions, mobilizing the global effort to see an additional trillion trees on Earth, and protecting and revitalizing the world’s oceans. With Sustainability Cloud, Salesforce helps companies accelerate to the path to net-zero, get a single source of truth, and quickly take action on their carbon emissions data. As a co-founder of the global platform UpLink, Salesforce helps connect more than 10,000 ecopreneurs around the world as they develop the next generation of innovative solutions to drive sustainability. As a participant of the UN Global Compact and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, Salesforce is helping lead the global movement to align business to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and build a safer, more equal, and sustainable future for all.

After securing the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac formed Global Optimism to build new narratives and support campaigns and partnerships with the unabashed ‘can-do’ attitude that is now required from all of us, to bring about the transformation the Paris Agreement demands. We build partnerships and campaigns with leaders willing to invest in the choices required to meet the goal of halving global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, eventually reaching net zero by 2050 and forging a nature positive economy. For more information visit GlobalOptimism.com.