Leading companies join campaign to encourage corporates to commit to 100% renewable power
Abu Dhabi - Leading businesseshave today set out their commitment to 100% renewable power,at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi. IKEA Group, Nestlé and other major corporations have joined RE100, a global campaign that encourages companies to use power exclusively from renewable energy sources.
RE100, an initiative of The Climate Groupin partnership with CDP,launched its first report, Renewable power: the journey to 100%, on the opening day of the World Future Energy Summit, at an event organised in partnership with Masdarand the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). At the event,representatives of some of the 15major companies that have already signed up to RE100highlighted the business and wider environmental benefits of switching to renewables.
Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group, said: "Investing in renewable energy is good for business, the economy and the planet. That's why we've committed to match 100% of our energy use with our own renewable energy generation by 2020 and have allocated EUR 1.5 billion to take us closer to this goal. Every business can benefit from making the switch to clean, abundant energy and RE100 is a call to action to accelerate this transition."
Claus Conzelmann, Vice President and Head of Safety, Health & Environmental Sustainability, Nestlé Group, added: "RE100 is fully aligned with Nestlé's explicit commitments, which reflect our respect for the society in which we operate, respect for the environment, and respect for future generations."
The eventRenewable power: the journey to 100% is testament to the growing interest for renewable power from corporates.The panel, which also included Dolf Gielen, Director of IRENA's Innovation and Technology Centre, Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar,Michael Liebreich, Founder and Chairman of Bloomberg New Energy Financeand Jurg Trueb, Head of Environmental and Commodity Markets, Swiss Re, also discussed the challenges faced by businesses in their journey to 100% renewable power and how to overcome them.
Emily Farnworth, RE100 Campaign Director, The Climate Group, said: "The development of a thriving, global market for authenticrenewable power will be a game-changer in emissions reductions and will drive a transition to a low carbon economy.Business leadership is essential to making this change happen."
Produced by The Climate Group and CDP, the report Renewable power: the journey to 100% features case studies from RE100 corporate partners. Its main findings are:
•Solar PV is the most popular renewable power technology for corporates.
•Heavy industry, construction and manufacturing sectors are the biggest investors in renewable energy, led by those in Europe.
•Consumer products, manufacturing and heavy industry sectors are getting the best financial returns.
RE100 was launched at Climate Week NYC on September 22, 2014. Fifteen companies have now joined the campaign and made a public commitment to going 100% renewable. In addition to IKEA Group and Nestlé, RE100 brings together BT Group, Commerzbank, Formula E, H&M, KPN, Mars, Philips, Reed Elsevier Group, J. Safra Sarasin Bank, SAP, SGS, Swiss Re andYOOX Group.
The two latest companies to join are SAP, a Germany-based global market leader in enterprise application software and SGS, a leading global inspection, verification, testing and certification company based in Switzerland.
Daniel Schmid, Chief Sustainability Officer of SAP SE said: "At the beginning of 2014, SAP announced its commitment to 100% renewable electricity in its data centers and facilities, which allowed us to expand our competitiveness in the cloud software market while further enhancing our sustainability leadership. Joining RE100 is a natural step and we are happy to share our practical experience with global sustainability leaders as well as to discuss challenges and opportunities associated with renewable energy."
Daniel Rüfenacht, Group Vice President, Corporate Sustainability,SGS, said: "We decided on a 100% renewable power approach by 2020as part of our wider commitment to being a carbon neutral company. At SGS, we are on a journey to reduce our carbon emissions and minimize our impact on climate change. By 2020, we plan to have reduced our annual CO2 emissions by 20% on a 2014 baseline through improved energy efficiency and by switching to low carbon options including renewable energy sources. In addition, we offset all residual CO2 emissions to maintain our status as a carbon neutral company."
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About RE100
RE100 is a global initiative that celebrates and supports major companies committed to 100% renewable power across their operations. Its goal is that 100 of the world's most influential businesses commit to 100% renewable powerwithin a specified timeline.
Led by The Climate Group, in partnership with CDP and supported by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), RE100 shares the compelling business case for renewable power, addresses barriers to wide-scale adoption, develops transparent reporting mechanisms, and identifies the necessary regulatory reforms.
By massively increasing private sector demand for renewable power, RE100 will accelerate the transformation of the global energy market, thus enabling the transition to a prosperous low carbon future.
The following companies have joined RE100 and made a public commitment to going 100% renewable: BT Group, Commerzbank, Formula E, H&M, IKEA Group, KPN, Mars, Nestlé, Philips, Reed Elsevier Group, J. Safra Sarasin Bank, SAP, SGS, Swiss Re, YOOX.
RE100 is an action of the We Mean Business coalition.
theRE100.org - #RE100
About The Climate Group
The Climate Group is an award-winning, international non-profit. Our goal is a prosperous, low carbon future. We believe this will be achieved through a 'clean revolution': the rapid scale-up of low carbon energy and technology. We work with corporate and government partners to develop climate finance mechanisms, business models which promote innovation, and supportive policy frameworks. We convene leaders, share hard evidence of successful low carbon growth, and pilot practical solutions which can be replicated worldwide.
Since 2009, The Climate Group has been the convenor of Climate Week NYC, an annual international platform for governments, businesses and civil society to collaborate on bold climate action and low carbon leadership.In September 2014, Climate Week NYC hosted 150 events as the collaborative space in support of the UN Climate Summit.
Please visit www.theclimategroup.org
Follow us on Twitter @climategroup using #cleanrevolutionand #RE100
About CDP
CDP is an international, not-for-profit organization providing the only global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information. CDP works with market forces, including 767 institutional investors with assets of US$92 trillion, to motivate companies to disclose their impacts on the environment and natural resources and take action to reduce them. CDP now holds the largest collection globally of primary climate change, water and forest risk commodities information and puts these insights at the heart of strategic business, investment and policy decisions.
Please visit www.cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.
Media contacts
In Abu Dhabi
Assad Abbasi, Weber Shandwick MENA
AAbbasi@webershandwick.com
T +971 (0) 2 449 4457 - M +971 (0) 52 861 4230
Global
Beth Woodthorpe-Evans, The Climate Group
M: +44 7912 514 445 - media@theclimategroup.org
Read RE100's report Renewable power: the journey to 100%
Read this press release on The Climate Group's websitehere.
© Press Release 2015
