International work up to 2020

Find out about our work in our key geographies up to 2020.

Learn more about RE100's latest international work on the Policy Engagement section of the RE100 website.

RE100 brings together committed companies from around the world. Since launching at Climate Week NYC 2014, we've expanded across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific.

We partner with select organisations in key geographies to grow our membership and drive market change. In each area, we provide companies with access to peer-learning, policy support, and local market insight.

East Asia

In East Asia, our focus is on Japan, the Republic of Korea, China and Taiwan, where we work closely with partners to grown and support our members.

In 2015, Elion Resources Group became the first Chinese company to join and commit to sourcing 100% renewable electricity. We welcomed our first members from Singapore and Taiwan in 2018, DBS Bank and TCI.

In 2020, the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC, joined RE100. TSMC is one of dozens of companies supplying to other RE100 members around the world. Taiwan has become a regional leader on offshore wind. Thanks to the introduction of the feed-in tariff and the Taiwan Renewable Energy Certificate (T-REC), it is now a growing market for corporate sourcing of renewables.

Governments are starting to recognise that easy business access to renewables offers competitive advantage in a globalised economy. 

In 2019, the leader of the Taiwanese authorities publicly recognised the growing number of RE100 multinationals requiring suppliers to use renewable electricity.

The following year, RE100 featured in the Republic of Korea's climate manifesto and Green New Deal. The Korean government has promised to unlock the market and provide options for companies looking to source renewables at affordable cost.

In each region we work closely with our partners. In Taiwan, our partners are the Chung Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) and the Business Council for Sustainable Development - Taiwan (BCSD). 

In the Republic of Korea, our partners are Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (KoSIF).

Japan

Japan is home to a large number of RE100 member companies. It began with Ricoh in 2017, inspiring dozens more to do the same. 

Renewables remain hard and expensive to source in Japan. Despite having a less ambitious renewable energy target (22-24% by 2030), major reform is underway. While obstacles still exist for producers and buyers, renewable electricity consumption has risen substantially, following the introduction of a feed-in tariff.

In 2019, 20 RE100 members, signed a ground-breaking call to action, coordinated by our partner JCLP. It called on policy makers to accelerate the switch to renewable electricity and bring 50% renewable electricity to Japan's power grid by 2030. They called for policies based on the associated societal benefits, and a system enabling renewables to be price-competitive with other electricity sources.

In early 2020, RE100 was recognised in Japan’s COVID-19 economic stimulus package. The growing demand for renewable electricity from our members was cited as a reason for allocating almost US$50 million (¥5 billion) to help develop onsite renewables through corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs).

In Japan, we work with JCLP to accelerate the transition to renewable electricity. In 2019, JCLP co-launched RE Action, an initiative inspired by RE100 to engage governments, universities, and small to medium-sized companies committed to 100% renewable electricity.

Our Ambassadors in Japan who support our work and who are committed to 100% renewable electricity for their own operations:

  • Ministry of Defence
  • Ministry of Environment
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Read our Japan Market Briefings in English or Japanese.

US

Mars, Inc. became the first US member of RE100 when we launched in 2014. The company has signed PPAs for wind and solar energy in numerous countries, inspiring many other US multinationals to follow suit.

RE100 now brings together dozens of the most influential, globally recognised US companies. They are normalising commitments to 100% renewable power and helping to drive the PPA market in the US and around the world.

We collaborate with the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), to accelerate corporate uptake of renewables. In 2019, the US was cited by our members as a challenging market for corporate sourcing: there is a lack of leadership by the federal government, and different approaches from state to state. REBA provides opportunities to engage on policy, and practical support for buyers across the country.

REBA’s Business Renewables Centre accelerates purchasing of off-site, large-scale wind and solar energy, and its Future of Internet Power programme brings together companies to collaborate on solutions for running data centres off renewable electricity. The Buyers Principle see companies calling for products in the marketplace that offer better access to renewables, and REBA’s work on green tariffs is helping companies in markets where there is no access to fixed price renewable energy.

Europe

When RE100 was born in 2014, few thought it possible to reach 100% renewable electricity. As founding partners of the initiative, Ingka Group (IKEA Group) and Swiss Re put their heads above the parapet and made the ambitious pledge.

BT Group, Commerzbank, Formula E, H&M, KPN, Nestlé, Philips, RELX Group (Reed Elsevier), and YOOX Group were also among the first to join, leading by example and inspiring others to follow.

Business demand for renewables has been a key driver of new renewable energy investments across the continent. 

In 2017, we partnered with SolarPower Europe, WindEurope and WBCSD to establish the RE-Source Platform, bringing together Europe’s clean energy buyers and suppliers, and providing guidance, to accelerate corporate sourcing of renewables. In 2019, backed by several RE100 members, we successfully called on EU policymakers to bring in a more ambitious new renewable energy directive.

As part of the Clean Energy for all Europeans package, Europe’s 2030 renewable energy target was increased to 32%. Member States were required to reflect this higher level of ambition in their national laws by 2021, removing barriers to PPAs ahead of updating their national energy and climate plans in 2023.

Clean energy is a core pillar of the European Green Deal, a set of legislative and policy initiatives setting Europe on a path to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.

Following the publication of the EU economic recovery plan, after COVID-19 took hold in 2020, 50 major companies backed a RE-Source letter on the essential role of corporate renewable sourcing in driving a clean, robust economy. Energy buyers and suppliers called for:

  • the implementation of the Clean Energy Package
  • greater investment from the financial sector
  • policies to support a faster roll-out of corporate PPAs
  • prioritisation of funding for electricity infrastructure to unlock this driver for green growth

India

We’ve had a presence in India since 2015, when information technology company Infosys pledged to transition to 100% renewable electricity. Several other leading Indian companies have since joined, including Dalmia Cement, Tata Motors and Mahindra Holidays.

Ahead of the COP21 climate negotiations in December 2015, the Government of India pledged to reduce carbon emissions relative to GDP by 33-35% by 2030 (2005 baseline), and to source 40% of the country’s electricity from non-fossil fuel-based sources by the same year. 

Since then, the Government set a bold renewable energy target of 175 gigawatts (GW) by 2022, providing a huge opportunity for investors and companies to help drive the growth of renewables.

In 2020, India auctioned 2 GW of solar projects at tariffs below the 2019 average, reaffirming investor confidence in the country’s solar future. According to IRENA, the country produces some of the most cost-effective solar electricity in the world.

Yet in 2019, India was cited by our members as a challenging market for corporate sourcing of renewables. The main barriers reported are a fragmented policy and regulatory framework that differs from state to state, and uncertain charges and taxes on sourcing of renewables.

Through their RE100 membership, both Indian companies and multinationals with operations in India are aiming for closer cooperation with regulatory authorities and other key stakeholders in each state.

Australia

Our work in Australia started with our October 2018 launch event, when we brought together Fujitsu, Mars, Inc. and Unilever to share the business case for renewable electricity and to highlight the opportunity for Australian companies.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia was the first Australian company to make the RE100 pledge, signing a power purchase agreement for energy from the largest wind farm in New South Wales. Leading Australian companies have continued joining RE100 and membership continues to grow.

Australia’s lack of clear energy policy direction has led to inflated costs and a reliance on coal. But forward-thinking companies are committing to 100% renewable power to stay competitive in the long-term.

By joining RE100, they are sending a powerful market signal that business wants better access to clean energy.