More companies double down on commitments to clean energy

July 14, 2017

A wind farm generating electricity can help businesses meet commercial sustainability targets

Commercial sustainability targets are good for the environment—and for a growing number of major corporations, they’re also good for business. Despite shifts in levels of support due to the current administration, many major companies in the U.S. are reaffirming—or even expanding—their commitment to reducing greenhouse gases. 

According to an article published by The New York Times, nearly half of the companies in the Fortune 500 are committed to a renewable energy policy—with 25 corporations joining those ranks within the past few years. And all signs point to the continued expansion of this move toward renewable energy in business.

From the article

Almost two dozen companies, including Google, Walmart and Bank of America, have pledged to power their operations with 100 percent renewable energy, with varying deadlines, compared to just a handful in 2015.

Establishing sustainability targets is left to the discretion of each entity, since there are currently no standardized guidelines for setting goals, nor common agreement on how to measure results. This can lead to a challenge noted in the article: The underreporting of a company’s ecological footprint. Since disclosure of emissions remains voluntary (and difficult to verify), the levels reported can be substantially lower than actual output. One solution is for companies to adopt the Science-Based Targets initiative as a way to add transparency to the process by creating a common set of guidelines.

Also from the article:


Large or small, any clean energy investment a company makes will point it in the right direction. And by adopting renewable energy policies, many corporations are seeing the positive results reflected in their triple bottom line. As investors show increased interest and consumers vote with their pocketbooks, more companies are expected to take the lead on reducing their carbon footprint.


Related links:

INFOGRAPHIC: 7 types of renewable energy for your business

How businesses can achieve their corporate sustainability goals with solar

INFOGRAPHIC: The triple bottom line: A sustainable model for success


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