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Fortune 500s Hitting The Hill On Earth Day

For many companies, Earth Day is a time for releasing corporate sustainability reports, unveiling new environmental initiatives or sponsoring community festivals honoring the day.

All laudable initiatives, but with the clock ticking on our ability to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius to avoid catastrophic climate change, companies need to up their game.

Many are.

Tomorrow, more than a dozen iconic companies, many of them Fortune 500 firms, are hitting Capitol Hill to deliver a singular focused message to Congress: act now on climate change. Many are also backing the EPA’s Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing global warming pollution from U.S. power plants – the nation’s largest source of carbon emissions – by 30 percent.

The group organized by my nonprofit group Ceres represents a powerful cross-section of our economy, including food, consumer and manufacturing giants such as Kellogg Co., Unilever, PepsiCo, Starbucks, Nestle, Mars and Owens Corning.

Joining them are familiar and not-so-familiar businesses such as Eileen Fisher, Gap Inc., JLL, L’Oreal, Seventh Generation, Vulcan, Aspen Skiing Company, Ben & Jerry’s, Burton Snowboards and Dignity Health.

The companies traveling to Washington believe that reaching a strong global deal on climate change in Paris this December is critical for the long-term stability of their businesses and the overall economy. They also recognize the imperative of U.S leadership on climate change, which is why most of them signed a letter – along with 200-plus other companies – supporting EPA’s Clean Power Plan, a cornerstone of U.S. efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

Many are already experiencing climate change impacts in their direct operations and supply chains – the devastating drought in the nation’s food hub, California, being just one example.

They’re also ‘walking the talk’ on climate change by sourcing more renewable energy for their operations and creating innovative new services and products that reduce carbon pollution. But they can only go so far without strong policies.

Here’s what a few of them had to say on the topic at a recent press conference (listen here to the recording)

“Nestle’s is directly impacted by the effects of climate change. Of particular concern are changes to weather patterns, water availability and agricultural productivity that will affect our global supply chain . We support the EPA Clean Power Plan because it provides a stable policy framework that creates a level playing field and provides incentives to guide behavior to tackle climate change.” Tim Brown, President and Chief Executive Officer, Nestlé Waters North America

“Producing innovative technologies in advanced low carbon aluminum products … is a key source of competitive advantage for our company and our customers. We strongly support the principles behind the carbon standard for existing power plants. Unless and until we commit to a low carbon future, the U.S. is not going to see the reductions we need to maintain healthy and sustainable economic growth.“ John Gardner, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Novelis, a global manufacturer of rolled aluminum, with manufacturing plants in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

“As a nation we must take action to reduce carbon and mitigate the increase in temperature that carbon causes, and the EPA plan has our support. Like many companies, we are following the lead of our consumers [who are] demanding transparency and environmental responsibility from the brands they purchase. There is very strong support within our community for the EPA Clean Power Plan.” Donna Carpenter, President and Founder of Burton Snowboards in Vermont, who calls the winter sports industry “the canary in the coal mine of climate change.”

“Buildings are responsible for up to 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, and that’s why JLL supports EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which includes energy efficiency as one of the key ways power providers can reduce their carbon emissions. Energy efficiency is the cheapest, cleanest and most readily available energy resource to help states cut their carbon emissions.” Dan Probst, Chairman of Energy and Sustainability at JLL, a global commercial real estate company, which has helped its clients cut their carbon emissions by 12 million metric tons, saving $2.5 billion in energy costs over the past seven years.”

These Clean Power Plan supporters don’t buy opponents’ ‘sky is falling’ claims that the reliability of our electric power system is at risk. Studies by the Analysis Group have repeatedly shown that electric power providers are capable of meeting the EPA requirements while keeping our lights on—just as they have met every other Clean Air Act requirement over the past 25 years.

Indeed, many of the nation’s largest power companies have indicated in comments to the EPA that the rule is achievable, with some modifications. Listen, for example, to Tom King, former president of National Grid.

As the Analysis Group concludes,“In the end, because there are such fundamental shifts already underway in the electric industry, inaction is the real threat to good reliability planning.” In states like Hawaii, for example, the local utility’s failure to adapt to the rapid spread of rooftop solar is creating electric system problems.

More than ever, it’s clear that businesses and investors have accepted the science of climate change and want government leadership to deal with it. Among the signs of this growing support:

• 43 CEOs of global companies published an open letter last week urging governments to reach an international climate agreement that holds temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius.
• Leaders of the B Team have called for net zero emissions by 2050
• More than 1,350 companies have signed Ceres’ Climate Declaration.
• Last fall, nearly 350 investors managing $24 trillion in assets called on government leaders to adopt meaningful carbon pricing, an ambitious climate accord, and an end to fossil fuel subsidies.

It’s time for our elected officials to follow their cue, and recognize the urgency and economic imperative of tackling climate change.

 First published on Forbes, April 21, 2015