The Obama administration’s attempts to cut US carbon emissions by six billion tons by 2030 were boosted on Monday, when 13 of the country’s largest companies added their names to the American Business Act on Climate Pledge.
Among them were Goldman Sachs, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Cargill and Alcoa. While many of the commitments under the pledge were not new, the White House stated that the news showed the private sector to be “committed to stepping up and doing its part in taking on this global challenge.”
“It’s not simply the administration that’s supporting [these companies] — there’s support in the business community, there’s support in state and local government,” Brian Deese, a senior adviser to Barack Obama, said in a conference call with reporters. “Alcoa is making a commitment to reduce absolute emissions by 50 percent by 2020.”
Photo: Reuters/Tony Gentile
Kevin McKnight, Alcoa’s chief sustainability officer and vice-president of environment, health and safety, said: “To ‘de-carbonize the world’ is one of our core business objectives.”
He went on to correct Deese, however, pointing out: “We are affirming that we’re committed to an absolute reduction goal in the US of 50 percent by 2025, but we appreciate your confidence.”
Among other commitments were a pledge by Coca-Cola to reduce the carbon footprint of “the drink in your hand” by 25 percent by 2020; a pledge by Cargill to reduce greenhouse emissions in its beef supply chain; and a commitment by Google to power its operations with 100 percent renewable energy.
Altogether, according to the White House, the pledge equalled “at least US$140 billion in new low-carbon investment and more than 1,600 megawatts of new renewable energy.” There were also company-specific goals to cut emissions, reduce water intensity and pursue zero net deforestation in supply chains.
This is not the first time that companies have joined the Obama administration in similar efforts. Earlier this year, companies within the White House supply chain including IBM, General Electric and Hewlett-Packard pledged to further reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Most such companies already had sustainability programs in place. For example, Walmart reinforced its previous commitment from 2010 to cut greenhouse emissions by 20m metric tons by the end of this year. But by adding their names to White House efforts, the companies provide support ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris in December.
“We applaud the growing number of countries that have already set ambitious targets for climate action,” the American Business Act on Climate Pledge reads. “In this context, we support the conclusion of a climate change agreement in Paris that takes a strong step forward toward a low-carbon, sustainable future.”
The UN conference is meant to bring together countries, including the US, to agree on a legally binding agreements on greenhouse gas reductions.
Related: EU politicians protest to Congress over climate exemption in TPP row
In the past months, several members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have expressed skepticism over Obama’s ability to negotiate such a deal. This was especially evident after the Republican congressman Paul Ryan added a last-minute amendment to the Trade Promotion Authority bill, also know as fast track, that would bar Obama from making action on climate change a condition of international trade negotiations.
“Tackling climate change is essential for everybody’s prosperity,” MEPs wrote in a letter to Congress, asking it to remove the amendment.
“As the global community prepares for the UN climate conference in Paris this December we do not believe that it is anyone’s interests to be seeking to limit or restrict the scope for international agreements to help us make progress on addressing global warming and climate change.”
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