Ceres’ Commit to Climate initiative aims to build private sector leadership on climate action, including supporting climate, clean energy, and clean transportation policies as well as securing strong corporate commitments that advance the goals of the Paris Agreement.
For three decades, Ceres has been building investor and corporate leadership on sustainability issues, especially when it comes to climate change. In the wake of the 2016 presidential election which changed the landscape for climate action in the U.S. dramatically, we launched this initiative to expand our work in several key areas that are pivotal for harnessing the power of the private sector to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
We are working with some of the largest and most influential investors and companies to advance the following key strategies of Commit to Climate:
Advance Corporate Commitments on climate, including setting and meeting science-based targets (SBTs) for greenhouse gas emission reductions as well as scaling up corporate investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and electric vehicles (EVs). Ceres is also accelerating the transition to EVs through the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance.
Advocate for climate, clean energy and clean transportation policies at the state and federal levels, including renewable energy standards, energy efficiency solutions, strong fuel economy standards and electric vehicle (EV) incentives, carbon regulations, and more.
Move electric power companies to evolve their business models so as to boost deployment of renewable energy, energy efficiency and EV charging infrastructure.
Spur oil and gas companies to stop developing risky new high-carbon fossil fuel reserves and pivot capital investments into clean energy.
Amplify success stories of companies and policymakers who are making climate commitments and taking action.
This initiative builds on our successful track record of making the business case for sustainability and expands our work in the states and sectors where we most urgently need to scale up progress and impact. We have the expertise, the networks and the influence to make a significant impact, but we need your help to build more momentum if we’re going to keep the U.S. on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Help Get US There — to a more just and sustainable future.
Commit to Climate: Building Private Sector Leadership
After President Trump announced in June 2017 that the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris Agreement, Ceres and our allies launched a movement to mobilize hundreds of influential investors and companies to tell the world that “We Are Still In.” The message, that ‘we will continue to support climate action to meet the Paris Agreement’ has been endorsed by more than more than 2100 investors and companies as well as colleges and universities, faith groups, tribal leader, and mayors and governors across the U.S. Ceres Network members and partners including Apple, CalPERS, Citi, Google, Mars, Inc., New York State Comptroller’s Office, PG&E and Walmart have all declared that “We Are Still In.”
Learn more about We Are Still In
To back up this endorsement, many companies are making climate commitments. Ceres is working with members of the Ceres Company Network and beyond to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase investments in energy efficiency solutions, switch to renewable energy, and deploy electric vehicles (EVs) and EV charging infrastructure.
Ceres and members of the Ceres Investor Network have held 65 engagements at major consumer-facing companies over the last year, including Coca-Cola, Jet Blue, Rite Aid and UPS. These engagements have focused on corporate commitments to energy efficiency improvements, increasing renewable energy usage, and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Here are some highlights of corporate commitments achieved by Ceres Network members and beyond:
- Many Ceres Company Network members have committed to going 100% Renewable Energy to power their businesses, including Apple, Levi Strauss & Co., Bank of America, Bloomberg, Citi, Clif Bar, eBay, General Motors, JPMorgan Chase, Nike, Wells Fargo and Xylem.
- NRG, under its new GHG emissions reduction timeline, expects to reach its 50% reduction target five years early and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, surpassing its original goal of a 90% reduction. The new goals are based on the reductions necessary to contain global warming to 1.5˚ Celsius.
- Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut has committed to pursue a science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and explore purchasing renewable energy. The commitment came after Ceres, along with FAIRR Initiative, released an investor letter urging fast food companies to tackle climate, water and deforestation risks in their meat and dairy supply chains.
- New York State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, a Ceres Investor Network member, announced a $3 billion increase to the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s (Fund) Sustainable Investment Program, raising its total commitment to $10 billion.
- Levi Strauss & Co., a Ceres Company Network member, announced a commitment to reduce GHG emissions by 90% within their direct operations by 2025, and, for the first time, set a goal to reduce GHG emissions in their global supply chains in the same time frame.
- Seventh Generation, a Ceres Company Network member, has committed to reduce both direct and indirect GHG emissions inclusive of consumer use by 50 percent by 2025 and even further by 2030.
- Best Buy, a Ceres Company Network member, announced new energy efficiency programs and upped its target to reduce CO2 emissions by 60% by 2020.
- National Grid, a Ceres Company Network member and one of the nation's largest investor-owned utilities, has released a blueprint for drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 in New England and New York.
- Brown-Forman, a Ceres Company Network member, announced an agreement to purchase 30 megawatts of electricity annually from renewable sources, enough to satisfy more than 90% of the company’s annual electricity needs in the U.S.
- Ceres BICEP Network member Salesforce released its Step Up declaration to inspire deeper commitments to climate action from the technology sector. The company also “stepped up” themselves by committing to science based targets and partnering with top suppliers to set their own emission reduction targets.
- In March 2018, Kohler announced a 15-year agreement to purchase 100 megawatts of wind power per year from the Diamond Vista wind farm located in Kansas. The commitment is the culmination of years of cultivation and engagement with Ceres, which has seen the company join our Connect the Drops Campaign and endorse the "We Are Still In" statement.
- Ceres and the Interfaith Network on Climate Risk brought investors to the table to work with two major steel manufacturers, U.S. Steel and AK Steel, to make commitments to set goals to cut GHG emissions through energy efficiency improvements and other measures. At U.S. Steel, the company agreed to set GHG reduction goals that result from a comprehensive asset revitalization program. AK Steel also appointed a senior manager to oversee its GHG reduction program.
Commit to Climate: Advocating for Climate, Clean Energy and Clean Transportation Policies
Ceres and the companies in our policy network, BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy Network), have been advocating for innovative climate and energy policy in the U.S. for the past decade. This year alone, we've have added 10 new companies to the network, and over the next three years we will be able to deploy more investors and companies to further advocate for state-level clean energy and climate policies in more states across the U.S.
Learn more about Ceres' BICEP Network
In addition to advocating for state-level solutions, we will continue to deploy our investor and company network members to defend federal policy measures, including strong fuel economy standards, the Clean Power Plan, and regulations to curb methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
Here are a few examples of how we're working with companies and investors to advance climate, clean energy, and clean transportation policies at the state level:
California
In 2017, Ceres mobilized nearly 50 investors and companies, including Gap, Inc. and Dignity Health, to publicly support the expanded carbon cap-and-trade efforts in California. Ceres and our business partners also met with lawmakers in Sacramento, including the highest levels of legislative leadership, to present the business case for the legislation. In July 2017, California once again demonstrated its leadership on climate change when a bipartisan super majority of legislators voted to extend and improve the state’s successful cap-and-trade program through 2030.
Ceres also worked with our Investor and Company Network members to organize support for the 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018 (SB100). This historic new law sets the state on a path to accelerate its Renewable Portfolio Standard to 60 percent by 2030 and lays out an inspirational goal of 100 percent clean, zero-carbon energy sources by 2045. Ceres worked with investors and companies to send letters to policymakers advocating for this important legislation, which was signed by Gov. Brown in September 2018.
ABOVE: Ceres director of California policy and partnerships, Kirsten James attends the SB 100 signing ceremony with Gov. Jerry Brown.
Ceres continues to mobilize investor and business voices to defend and preserve the state’s crucial Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) and Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) program in the face of attacks from the fossil fuel industry.
Massachusetts
Ceres worked with the Environmental League of Massachusetts’ Corporate Council and the Alliance for Business Leadership to send a business sign-on letter to policymakers in support of increasing to the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to achieve 50% renewable energy by 2030. More than a dozen major Massachusetts employers, including JLL, New Balance, Legal Sea Foods, Autodesk, IKEA, Worthen Industries, signed onto the letter. Many of these companies also joined Ceres and other allies this year to meet with lawmakers to discuss their support for an increased RPS and other solutions to bolser clean energy investments. Heeding the call of the business community, the legislature passed a requirement to increase the RPS that will put the state on a path to reach 35 percent clean energy by 2030.
ABOVE: Ceres Network members meet with Rep. Tom Golden, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Telecom, Utilities and Energy to discuss clean energy opportunities in Massachusetts.
Going forward Ceres will continue to push for solutions to help Massachusetts meet the ambitious targets laid out in the Global Warming Solutions Act. From strengthen the state’s efficiency programs to scaling up electric vehicle infrastructure and incentives, investing in offshore wind, and tackling emissions from the building sector, there are a number of solutions the Commonwealth can continue to pursue.
Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
In 2016, Ceres expanded its work in key Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states like Massachusetts and New Hampshire to support efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, known as RGGI. Ceres amplified the voices of investors and companies in support of RGGI via comment letters, targeted op-eds, and in-person meetings. In August 2017, buoyed by the backing of the business community, the bipartisan group of nine governors finalized plans to strengthen the initiative by reducing carbon emissions by at least 30 percent below 2020 cap levels by 2030.
Going forward, with newly-elected governors who are supportive of clean energy policy in both New Jersey and Virginia, Ceres is engaging the business community in these two states to encourage participation and coordination with RGGI states.
Colorado
In spring 2018, Ceres mobilized companies in support of Colorado’s adoption of a clean cars program, which will help buffer against the impacts of any weakening of federal vehicle fuel efficiency standards. Ceres organized nearly a dozen major Colorado companies, including Aspen Skiing Company, New Belgium Brewing, Smartwool, Colorado Ski Country USA and others, to sign on to a letter in support the economic benefits of clean car standards. In June 2018, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed an executive order directing the adoption of the Low Emission Vehicle (LEV) standard, joining 13 other states and making Colorado the first state in the U.S. interior to do so.
Going forward, Ceres will continue to mobilize companies in support of implementing the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) program along with the LEV standard, which would help Colorado meet its ambitious electric vehicle and greenhouse emission reduction goals.
Ohio
Since 2014, Ceres has coordinated major Ohio companies, investors and institutions to defend the state's clean energy standards. Despite this strong cross-sector support, lawmakers finally succeeded in passing legislation to weaken the standards in July 2019. Ceres is helping businesses and institutions in Ohio continue to support clean energy investment in the state through letters, testimony, op-eds, private outreach and in-person advocacy.
Virginia
In 2017, former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe released a proposed rule to cut carbon emissions from the state’s electric power sector by 30 percent between 2020 and 2030 — making Virginia is the first state since California to advance carbon pricing. Virginia’s current Governor, Ralph Northam, has pledged to follow through with these plans, which would incentivize electric power companies to find cost-effective ways to cut emissions and invest in clean energy. Ceres has helped advance the proposed carbon-cutting regulations by mobilizing companies to testify at hearings and meet with lawmakers, as well as place supportive columns in state media outlets. In spring of 2018, Ceres worked with major companies including Adobe, IKEA, Mars, and Nestle, to submit comments to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in support of implementing regulations as a way to spur innovation and strengthen the economy.
Ceres staff and members of Ceres BICEP Network meet with Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax to discuss clean energy opportunities in Virginia.
Going forward, Ceres will continue to inject the business voice where helpful to spur the administration and legislators to advance the proposed carbon regulations in Virginia.
Commit to Climate: Increasing Clean Energy Supply
To enable the essential transition to a clean energy economy, electric power companies must provide more renewable energy and energy efficiency to their customers, including major corporations that are demanding clean energy to meet their own targets.
In addition to benchmarking U.S. electric power company emissions, Ceres has been engaging with these companies and their investors for decades, challenging them to change their business models and enable the much-needed transition to a low-carbon economy. These engagements have been focused, in part, around the quickly evolving electric vehicle (EV) sector. Electric utility companies have a unique role to play in scaling up the infrastructure needed to support a growing demand for EVs.
In November 2017, Ceres released Accelerating Investment in Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, a new analysis showing that the benefits of increased investment in EV charging infrastructure far outweigh the costs. The analysis focuses on 12 electric utility service areas in seven states where 42 million residential customers have 80 million vehicles, providing crucial support for utilities and their regulators to support investments that accelerate EV deployment.
Electric power companies working with Ceres have committed to the following:
- Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) secured approval for a $130 million EV infrastructure plan to install 7,500 chargers.
- National Grid has proposed spending $25 million on 140 charging sites in Massachusetts.
- American Electric Power (AEP) will invest $10 million over 4 years to expand EV infrastructure in Ohio.
Commit to Climate: Decarbonizing the Fossil Fuel Sector
To fully transition to a clean energy economy, reliance on fossil fuels must be dramatically reduced. Ceres and our Investor Network members are increasing pressure on major oil and gas companies to stop investing in high-risk, high-carbon fossil fuel reserves, and have been calling on electric power companies to curtail investment in high-carbon infrastructure such as fossil fuel-fired power plants
To reduce investments in, and development of, new fossil fuel reserves and carbon-intensive infrastructure, Ceres and our Investor Network members and collaborators have been working to move electric power and oil & gas companies to conduct two-degree scenario analyses and disclose how their business models must adjust to a world in which global temperature rise is kept to well below two-degrees Celsius in relation to pre-industrial levels.
Through this work, shareholder resolutions calling for two-degree scenario analyses have earned majority votes by investors at Anadarko, ExxonMobil, Kinder Morgan, Occidental Petroleum and PPL Corporation. In early 2018, PPL committed to reduce its GHG emissions by 70% by 2050, and electric power giant AEP – the largest electric power sector emitter of GHGs in the Western Hemisphere – announced that it will cut GHG emissions 60% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, moving the company significantly closer to alignment with the Paris Agreement. The investor engagements we have coordinated with utility companies also have led to a dozen shareholder resolution withdrawals with companies such as Duke Energy, AES, DTE Energy, and CMS Energy agreeing to release two-degree scenario analyses before a vote was even held. Engagements with other oil and gas companies have led to many similar withdrawals.
Shareholder Engagement on Climate Risk
During the 2017-2018 proxy season, Ceres worked with members of its Investor Network and other investor partners and engaged with a total of 297 companies via shareholder resolutions, letters and direct dialogues to set targets around climate-related financial disclosures, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and sustainability reporting.
Global Launch of Climate Action 100+
Ceres and its investor partners from Europe, Asia, and Australia launched the Climate Action 100+ at the One Planet Summit in Paris last year. Climate Action 100+ is a five-year initiative led by investors to engage with the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters to improve governance on climate change, curb emissions and strengthen climate-related financial disclosures. To date, 296 investors with USD $31 trillion in assets under management have signed on to the initiative.
Weeks after energy giant AEP was notified of its inclusion in the Climate Action 100+, the company announced that it will cut GHG emissions by 60% by 2030 and 80% by 2050, moving the company significantly closer to alignment with the Paris Agreement. This was a landmark announcement for numerous reasons, including AEP’s longstanding position as the largest carbon emitter in the Western Hemisphere and the fact that Ceres and its investor partners have been engaging with AEP for more than a decade.
Support Ceres' Commit to Climate Initiative
For 30 years, Ceres has been building investor and corporate leadership on sustainability issues like climate change. We make the business case that environmental, social and governance issues are fiduciary risks to both investors and companies. Our unique approach has helped move major economic actors to change their business models, protect their bottom line, and protect people and the planet now and for generations to come.
Please support Ceres’ Commit to Climate initiative and help ensure that the U.S. remains a global leader when it comes to climate action.
