In the market for change: saving the climate 100 million tons at a time
The news: Ecofys (an international energy consultancy) reports that corporate members of WWF’s Climate Savers program (see my last blog about this for some background) cut their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by more than 100 million tons from 1999 to 2011. What does that mean exactly? It means that by changing the way they work – from their central operations to their supply chains – Climate Savers companies have reduced their cumulative emissions by twice the amount of CO2 emitted by Switzerland each year. Wow is right! And as these companies continue to deliver on their commitments, overall emissions reductions could exceed 350 million tons by 2020 – that is about what Spain emits annually!
Photo Credit: istockphoto.com/WWF-Canada
Jess Fisher, Strategic Partnerships Manager and WWF-Canada Climate Savers lead, who you “met” in that last blog, made the trek to The Netherlands May 9th-11th to put faces to the names of these committed businesses. It all started in a state-of-the-art green building owned by Dutch energy company Eneco – the perfect backdrop for discussions about leading business into a low-carbon future. The first day was a broad business forum called NEXT, where business leads discussed the challenges and opportunities of embedding sustainability in their own companies and sectors to drive meaningful change. The Climate Savers workshop the next day provided an intimate forum for knowledge sharing amongst the 27 Climate Savers companies and was the ideal place to announce the tremendous results members have achieved to date. How inspiring! Imagine a room full of business leaders committed to responsible practices, hearing about the cumulative success of their own actions and those of their peers.
In fact, along with reporting about Climate Savers successes, Ecofys tells us that the potential for achieving far greater emission cuts is huge if more companies follow the lead of current members in the program. WWF’s vision for Climate Savers is that member companies set ambitious, industry-leading carbon reduction targets and actively address their most significant sustainability impacts, and in turn cause a ripple effect by demonstrating that it is not only possible but also beneficial to grow business without growing carbon emissions. If other major corporations follow the lead of the 16 business sectors where the program is active, up to 100 million tons of emissions could be avoided annually in 2020. What does that look like? It is roughly comparable to the current annual emissions of Germany!
It sounds to me like WWF’s vision is beginning to flourish. Jess reflects, “It was really inspiring to sit in a room with 50 people representing companies like Coca-Cola, Tetra Pak, and Volvo, and hear about the experiences, successes, and challenges of being a climate leader. Despite working in different industries, they face similar challenges, like measuring and reducing their supply chain emissions, and it was interesting to hear all of the different and helpful solutions. The part that really got me excited was their interest in carving out an active role for business in influencing environmental policy. They are also willing to put their differences aside. In the realm of Climate Savers, even competitors in the market are working together to make the changes that are crucial to the health of our planet.”
