Corporations hold significantly more responsibility for greenhouse gas production than do individuals. In fact, as few as 90 companies cause as much as two-thirds of global emissions. That share also represents the magnitude of impact corporations can have on reducing greenhouse gas production – by going green themselves thereby influencing the economy towards clean energy.
Not all companies are greenwashing. So far (September, 2022), over 370 companies listed in RE100’s list of companies, have pledged to go "100% renewable" (up from 175 in 2020). Some of their goals are for carbon neutrality (meaning they have committed to producing as much renewable energy as they consume) and some goals are focused on sourcing 100% renewable electricity for portions or all of their business needs. Walmart, for example and among other things, has a goal of avoiding one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and working hard to get their 2,300 suppliers on board, figuring they are all in this together. One of the avenues they are pursuing is “to educate their suppliers on renewable energy options and help them through the conversion — a process Walmart’s Senior Director of Sustainability Zach Freeze said can be daunting for any supplier — especially small ones.”
The RE100 companies are taking action in numerous ways to become renewable — through their production, their infrastructure, supply chain, and/or transportation. They are conserving, reusing, replacing and/or recycling in one commendable manner or another.
Although not a member of RE100, an announcement in September 2022 startled the business and climate world. With the statement, “Earth is now our only shareholder,” Patagonia’s founder Yvon Gouinnard gave his company to a charitable trust committed to reinvesting any profit, not needed for running the business, to fighting climate change.
Inevitably we will be missing some remarkable companies below. There is more information in some of our other sections:
