If ever there was a snapshot of our progress in tackling climate change, the Global Climate Action Summit was it. Thousands of leaders from all sectors of society convened in San Francisco to showcase their climate action and to push one another toward bolder solutions to tackle climate change.
As a member of the Summit Advisory Committee, I had the distinct pleasure of working with host California Governor Jerry Brown and the Summit team to mobilize the investor and business communities to step up and announce new climate commitments. (You can learn more about investor leadership at the Summit in my previous Forbes column.)
From a company leadership perspective, it was tremendous to see our work come to fruition with each commitment helping to accelerate the low-carbon transition and ratchet up pressure on policymakers to increase their ambition. We showed the world just how much we can accomplish when we work together, and it is no exaggeration to say that this Summit showcased more company climate action than ever before assembled on a single stage.
And just in time, too. As the climate crisis grows more and more dire and our window of opportunity to limit warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius begins to close, we need to increase our leadership exponentially. As former U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said in her opening Summit remarks, “Exponential progress is necessary and it is achievable. The moment has come to move from knowing that it is achievable, to actually achieving it. And that is what we’re gathered here to do. This is an invitation to join the journey of exponential transformation.”
The good news is that many companies have already booked their ticket, working across sectors to increase their impact. As Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff put it, “We have to have a big tent — including business, governments, NGOs, and activists. Each and every one of us has to step up. Every CEO has to step up. Businesses, companies like mine, can be the leaders in the fight on climate change.”
Benioff’s remarks, and those of the many other private sector leaders, underscore a simple truth: Many in the business community get it. Whether citing the imperative of ensuring a sustainable future for their loved ones or referencing the undeniable business case for climate action, corporate leaders showed they are more motivated than ever to act.
When discussing Bank of America’s $125 billion low-carbon financing commitment, Jim Mahoney, Global Strategy and Public Policy Executive, said that the success of a bank depends on the success of the economy, and that the success of the economy hinges on climate action and on the transition to low-carbon energy sources. “The good news,” he added, “is that it’s profitable. This is the way the world is going.”
Bank of America’s $30 billion subset of U.S.-based investments in renewables, energy efficiency, transportation, and water has so far created 75,000 high-paying jobs each year, contributing $35 billion in cumulative GDP and driving more than $70 billion in overall economy output, according to the bank. That’s what I call good for the planet, good for the economy, and good for the bottom line.
Other corporate commitment highlights include:
- Ceres BICEP Network member Clif Bar joined EV100, committed to electrifying their fleet and installing workplace charging stations. They have already implemented a system to incentivize their workers to purchase electric vehicles.
- Levi Strauss & Co., a Ceres Company Network member and a founding member of the Ceres BICEP Network, announced (in the lead up to the Summit) a major commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent in its own operations and 40% throughout its supply chain by 2025.
- Lyft, a We Are Still In signatory, committed to going carbon neutral for all rides, and to purchasing renewable energy to power its offices, driver hubs, and electric vehicles.
- Ceres BICEP Network member Salesforce released its Step Up declaration to inspire deeper commitments to climate action from the technology sector. The company also “stepped up” themselves by committing to science based targets and partnering with top suppliers to set their own emission reduction targets.
- Seventh Generation, a Ceres Company and BICEP Network member, unveiled the company’s new science-based target for 2030 and rallied its global partners across the value chain to do the same.
- We Are Still In signatories announced more than 300 new climate pledges, delivering a new wave of climate commitments and showing the world that, regardless of the federal government, the U.S. remains committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Every announcement, whether from a retailer, a tech company, or a bank, was rooted in a pragmatic and careful consideration of the proven business case for sustainability. These companies understand that sustainable practices are not far-off concepts or nice-to-haves, they are core to their long-term success. They know, like we know, that limiting global warming is not radical. What’s radical is putting our children’s lives and our entire economy at risk due to our unwillingness to act on climate change.
And they also know that we must dramatically accelerate our climate action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. And so even with all of the progress we’ve seen from companies on climate change, we need to go further and faster, with bigger, bolder, and more audacious leadership to drive that exponential transformation.
Climate change is a grave threat, but tackling climate change is also one of the greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century. Companies and countries who exponentially increase their ambitions will position themselves to seize exponentially increasing opportunities. Those that don’t risk ceding the field of play to those more bold, more audacious, and better prepared for the future.
While I’m heartened by the volume and quality of private sector leadership showcased at the Global Climate Action Summit, I know that we have a long way to go to get to that exponential transformation that we need. We look forward to working with our investor and company members through our new Commit to Climate initiative, which will help drive more commitments and get us to a just, sustainable future. As we gear up for Climate Week in New York City next week, let’s all take inspiration from the momentum we’ve built up so far and let us also pause and recognize the truly historic moment we’re living in.
And after that deep breath, let’s get back to work.
