More corporate giants pledge 100% renewables

More corporate giants pledge 100% renewables

We've seen a growing number of announcements about corporations committing to 100% renewable energy over the past few years. And some—like Lego and Google for example—have already reached their goal.

So much so, that I have been wondering whether a promise to source exclusively clean energy even counts as news anymore. And yet, I do think these announcements play an important role in both sending signals to markets about where the future lies, and also in providing a back stop against short-sighted political maneuvers intended to delay climate action.

So I was delighted to hear from RE100 about another four corporate giants who are pledging to go all-in for clean energy. Here are the details:

Sony Corporation—which already sources 100% renewables in Europe—now targeting 100% renewable electricity by 2040, and 30% by 2030. Of course, the eagle eyed TreeHuggers among us will note that if Google and Lego have already achieved their goals, why are we lauding Sony for a goal that's still more than twenty years out? It's all about the markets a company operates in. Paul Simpson, CEO of non-profit group CDP which helps run the campaign, had this to say about the difference:

“With a heavy reliance on fossil fuels, Japan’s electricity market is a hard nut to crack if you’re looking to source 100% renewable electricity, but Sony is showing what can be done. We welcome Sony’s intention to work with RE100 peers to demonstrate growing demand to suppliers – just the kind of leadership we need to see.”

Meanwhile several other companies operating in largely developed renewables markets have significantly shorter timeframes for their commitments. McKinsey & Company and RBS, for example, are both committed to sourcing 100% renewable electricity by 2025, and co-working giant WeWork—which recently made waves with its "no meat for employee meals" policy—is targeting 2023.

Let's hope that every single one of them meets these goals, and does so early.

Sony, McKinsey & Company, Royal Bank of Scotland and WeWork are all committing to going all-out for clean energy.

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