5 years of the We Mean Business coalition catalyzing bold climate action
We Mean Business coalition
The We Mean Business coalition has reached a key milestone on its mission to catalyze bold climate action – marking five years since it was launched by its seven core partners during Climate Week in 2014.
The coalition’s partners – BSR, CDP, Ceres, The B Team, The Climate Group, The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group and WBCSD – have together helped drive unprecedented corporate climate action and policy ambition.
The coalition was launched thanks to the generosity of the IKEA Foundation, which recognised the need to bring together business-focused climate NGOs to build collaboration and provide a united voice for businesses to call for more ambitious climate policy.
To date over 1,000 forward-looking companies – representing more than $20.1 trillion in market cap – equivalent to one quarter of global GDP, have committed to bold climate action through the partners’ initiatives. This includes more than 630 companies committed to science-based targets through the Science Based Targets initiative.
In response to the latest science, 87 companies are demonstrating further leadership by pledging to cut emissions in-line with what science says is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5°C – by setting 1.5°C aligned science-based targets and committing to net-zero emissions across their value chains by 2050.
Meanwhile, more than 200 companies are committed to transitioning to 100% renewable electricity through RE100, over 50 companies are committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles with EV100 and 50 companies are committed to EP100, which brings together energy-smart companies committed to using energy more productively to lower greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate a clean economy.
And hundreds of companies are collaborating to solve issues that are bigger than any single company through initiatives such as the Low Carbon Technology Partnerships initiative (LCTPi). The LCPTi has successfully helped connect over 235 companies to bring climate solutions to scale and address the climate challenge through joined-up innovation – across energy, agriculture, natural climate solutions, heavy transport and e-mobility.
Other collaborative initiatives including REscale, RE-Source and REBA are bringing together energy buyers and developers from around the world and helping to accelerate the transition to zero-carbon power.
The coalition is also working with companies to help implement a just, fair and inclusive transition. Leading power utilities including Enel and Iberdrola are ensuring the transition away from coal and towards renewables is done without impacting workers by involving unions retraining employees.
While, the coalition has achieved huge progress during its first five years, the next five years will be critical to ensure momentum accelerates across both company climate action and policy ambition – the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C depends on it.