The Climate Pledge: What is it and who is part of it?
Along with climate change comes its ever-growing consequences and an urgent call for help. The planet needs a hand, and it’s time to give it ours with actions that are visible.
The Climate Pledge is an initiative of Amazon and Global Optimism with a common goal: to achieve the objective of the Paris Agreement ten years earlier. That is, to reach net zero carbon by 2040.
The actions taken between 2020 and 2030 are extremely important to avoid further damage, or historical records, and to reach the goal.
What is the Paris Agreement?
The historic Paris Accord established a unanimous response to keep global temperature increase below 1.5°C. To have a strong chance of staying below 1.5°C, global carbon emissions must reach net zero by 2050, and the sooner we get there, the better our chances are. Climate science also tells us that to reach the goal of net zero by 2050, we will have to halve global emissions between 2020 and 2030.
The climate pledge believes that global businesses are responsible and must be part of this fight. They have to be, therefore, accountable and have the capacity to act in a direct way with the crisis. Their help would transform societies and cooperate with collective action. Here is the significant change.
This initiative is made up of different and large companies that joined the change. The Climate Pledge believes that this is an opportunity for leading companies to commit themselves to protect the planet and the world economy.
Those who are part of this must:
- Measure and report regularly on greenhouse gas emissions;
- Implement decarbonization strategies in line with the Paris Agreement through real changes and innovations in business, including efficiency improvements, renewable energy, material reduction and other carbon abatement strategies;
- Neutralize any remaining emissions with additional, quantifiable, real, permanent, and socially beneficial offsets to achieve zero net annual carbon emissions by 204
Including Amazon, 31 companies have now signed the Climate Pledge. In the last days 13 new companies joined the initiative: Atos, Brooks, Canary Wharf Group, Coca-Cola European Partners, ERM, Groupe SEB France, Harbour Air, ITV, Microsoft, Neste, Rubicon, Unilever, and Vaude.
Amazon on the other hand, apart from this initiative, has launched a fund of 2,000 million dollars to invest in companies that create technological solutions to combat climate change. Also, buying the right to call “Climate Pledge Arena” to the old Key Arena, was an action that made them popular locally. The sand is billed as the first certified net zero carbon sand, powered by 100% renewable electricity, as it indicates an article from The Seattle Times.
Beyond being carbon neutral by 2012, in January, Microsoft committed to being carbon negative by 2030 and eliminating its footprint from the environment by 2050. On the other hand, it committed to contribute to a sustainable development, and through its cloud technologies are already reducing their carbon emissions worldwide.
Khashimova Long, K. (9 december of 2020). Microsoft, Brooks and 11 more companies join Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be carbon-neutral by 2040. The Seattle Times. Retrieved from:
https://www.seattletimes.com
Businesswire. (9 december of 2020). Unilever, Microsoft, Brooks, Neste, and ITV Are Among 13 More Companies to Join The Climate Pledge. Business Wire. Retrieved from:
https://www.businesswire.com
