In the market for change: What does it mean to be a Climate Saver?

I joined the WWF team almost a year ago after completing a degree in wildlife biology and one in science communication.  Nowhere in that long list does it say business, so being exposed to our corporate partnerships has been a whole new experience for me – and a very interesting one at that. I’ve heard the term “Climate Savers” dropped here and there, but never really knew what it meant for a business to join the Climate Savers program. So I tracked down my colleague Jess Fisher, Strategic Partnerships Manager and Climate Savers lead, to find out more.

Jess Fisher, Strategic Partnerships Manager and Climate Savers lead

“Climate Savers is a carbon-reduction program that WWF leads worldwide,” she told me. “The premise is to engage with companies that are leaders in their industry and that are willing to make commitments to go even further. In other words, they are already setting targets and achieving carbon reductions, and are eager to address sustainability issues in the areas where their work has the most direct impact.” For example, one Climate Savers company, Resolute Forest Products, has made ‘leadership’ commitments to certify 80% of its managed forests to the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) standard by 2015 and to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 65% below 2000 levels by 2015. That’s no small feat!
Achieving membership in Climate Savers is actually quite a rigorous process, taking months to negotiate terms and make sure that the companies we work with are committed to making real changes and leading their sector to do the same. It was helpful to skim through WWF’s Rethink Business report as well, which is a document outlining key learnings from Climate Savers companies. I was happy to find out that not just anyone can join the program, but that also made me worry about companies who want to make changes but aren’t quite there yet.
Jess let me know that it’ll all be ok: “In lieu of working with every single company out there, we stick to our model of scalable change. So when we agree to work with a company toward Climate Savers membership, it’s because we really believe two things. First, that they are setting leadership targets and actively working to achieve carbon reductions in their operations. And second, that they are influencing others in their sector to do the same.  They are transforming the market, not just their business.” The idea is that these companies proactively take actions to lead other businesses in their sector (and beyond) to minimize their environmental impacts.
Talking to Jess and reading the Rethink Business report, I’ve discovered that joining the program isn’t easy, but there are many tools to support organizations along the way.  One program that can help companies just starting out is Living Planet @ Work, which offers the guidance, tools, and support to help companies engage their employees in the sustainability journey.
It turns out that Climate Savers aren’t light bulbs or super heroes, but they are very important leaders in the business sector. It is becoming clearer and clearer to me – the wildlife biologist at heart with no business experience – that business plays a very important role in conservation. If you think about it, it really does make sense. We all have to work together to protect our planet, even if it means holding hands with unlikely partners.