Amazon and Global Optimism announced that more than 300 companieshave now signed The Climate Pledge, marking a nearly 600% growth in signatories over the past year. Among the nearly 100 new signatories joining are the world’s largest container shipping company, Maersk; the leading enterprise software developer SAP; and the leading brand in connected car and audio services, HARMAN.
Signatories to The Climate Pledge must agree to:
- 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.
“The effects of climate change are becoming more and more apparent in our surroundings and daily lives, and we firmly believe that the private sector must continue to innovate and collaborate across regions and industries in order to decarbonize the global economy at scale,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO. “It’s an encouraging sign that more than 300 businesses have now signed The Climate Pledge, which commits them to confronting climate change head-on by incorporating real business changes that will make a lasting impact on our planet. We can only do it together.”
Many of the new Pledge signatories are already making great strides toward reducing their carbon emissions:
Maersk
Maersk is providing industry-leading green customer offerings across the supply chain, including Maersk ECO Delivery, which targets emission reductions in ocean shipping. Amazon began participating in this service in 2020 and continues today. Amazon’s participation reduced emissions by approximately 20 KTonnes of CO2e (the equivalent of 50 million average passenger vehicle miles) in 2021.
“Solving the climate emergency and decarbonizing our customers’ supply chains is a strategic imperative for Maersk,” said Soren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller–Maersk. “Hence, back in January 2021 we accelerated our decarbonization commitment to net-zero emissions by 2040—a decade ahead of our initial 2050 ambitions and the Paris Agreement. To drive the massive scale-up of green fuels, we all must move now and take action. If we are meant to see changes this decade, we cannot afford to wait, and in that context, we look forward to joining The Climate Pledge, an opportunity to team up with some of our major customers, learn from them, and share best practices and solutions.”
SAP
SAP recently accelerated its target for achieving net-zero carbon emissions to 2030—20 years earlier than originally targeted.
“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and the time to act is now,” said Christian Klein, SAP CEO. “Technology provides us with an opportunity to create a lasting, positive impact for future generations, and SAP is proud to join The Climate Pledge to help drive this change.”
Weyerhaeuser
Weyerhaeuser is sustainably managing forests and manufacturing wood products across North America to provide a sustainable supply of wood for homes and countless other products while protecting wildlife habitat and serving as a natural climate solution through carbon sequestration and storage. Weyerhaeuser reforests 100% of its timberlands after harvesting—planting between 130 and 150 million trees each year.
“Sustainability has been a guiding principle at Weyerhaeuser for well over a century, and we have long believed that our company has an obligation to make a positive impact in our communities and for society more broadly,” said Devin W. Stockfish, Weyerhaeuser president and CEO. “Our working forests and the sustainable wood products we produce play a critical role in helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change. And as part of our ongoing sustainability efforts, we have published our inaugural, peer-leading Carbon Record and established a leadership position among our North American industry peers by setting an ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas reduction target. Signing on to The Climate Pledge reflects our commitment to achieve these goals and to help lead on the path to net-zero emissions globally.”
The business community must have a clear path forward: Step up and accelerate emissions reductions so that we might avoid the worst of the damages yet to come.
Christiana Figueres
Founding Partner of Global Optimism and the United Nations' former Climate ChiefSunrun
Sunrun’s systems have prevented 8.1 million metric tons of carbon emissions, which is equivalent to negating 20 billion miles driven by an average passenger vehicle.
“At Sunrun, people and the planet are our north star,” said Mary Powell, Sunrun CEO. “Since our founding, we've helped more than 660,000 customers across the U.S. switch to clean energy and reduce their carbon emissions through our home solar and battery storage systems, and we're just getting started. We're laser focused on finding more ways to electrify homes and enable all Americans to take action on climate change, reduce energy costs, and gain energy independence. We are proud to demonstrate this commitment by signing the Climate Pledge alongside other sustainability leaders.”
HARMAN
With a long-standing focus on purpose, sustainability is one of HARMAN’s key strategic business pillars. As part of HARMAN’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon across Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2040, it’s working toward ambitious, measurable shorter-term targets that aim to reduce emissions, energy usage, and waste across its value chain. HARMAN has introduced new product lines made from responsibly sourced and recycled materials and has committed to 100% renewable energy in all HARMAN factories by 2025.
“At HARMAN, we know that driving sustainability is an ongoing journey that benefits from constant collaboration,” said Tom Mooney, HARMAN senior director of Government Affairs and Sustainability. “Each of the other Climate Pledge signatories is as committed as we are to building a more sustainable future and understands the value of working together toward our common goal. We’re excited to be joining forces with this community of innovators and thought leaders to create meaningful change.”
The Climate Pledge also welcomes several companies that have previously received investments through the $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund, Amazon’s corporate venture capital fund that invests in companies that can help accelerate a path to meeting The Climate Pledge. These companies include BETA Technologies, an electric aerospace company, and Infinium, a renewable fuels technology company, which both aim to support decarbonization efforts in the global transportation sector. The sector was responsible for approximately 7.3 billion metric tons of carbon emissions in 2020. Nearly 13% of signatories represent transportation, aviation, and logistics sectors, sending an important signal that there will be rapid growth in demand for products and services that help reduce carbon emissions in this key sector.
Additionally, Climate Pledge Fund investee and new signatory Pachama is bringing quality, transparency, and scale to nature-based carbon markets. Pachama uses remote sensing and machine learning to measure carbon stored in forests and monitor them over time, allowing organizations and individuals to compensate for their emissions with confidence by supporting reforestation and forest conservation projects.
The latest report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasizes the need for immediate action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to invest in natural climate solutions to limit warming to close to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and to mitigate damages.
"In the face of great peril, which is what the latest science depicts, the business community must have a clear path forward: Step up and accelerate emissions reductions so that we might avoid the worst of the damages yet to come,” said Christiana Figueres, founding partner of Global Optimism and the United Nations' former climate chief. “It’s encouraging, therefore, that 300 companies are committed to working together to achieve net-zero by 2040 or sooner through The Climate Pledge. But 300 companies are not enough to deliver the transformations we need. I encourage all business leaders to get to grips with the science, translate it for their businesses, and enable the changes we need without delay.”
In 2019, Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. Now, 312 organizations have signed The Climate Pledge, sending an important signal that there will be rapid growth in demand for products and services that help reduce carbon emissions.
Learn more about all 312 signatories that have committed to The Climate Pledge and the actions they are taking to decarbonize their businesses.
