The Climate Group’s RE100 initiative has been named Environmental Awareness Campaign of the Year at the BusinessGreen Leaders Awards, held on Wednesday 27 June, in London. The Climate Group leads RE100 in partnership with CDP.
BusienssGreen wrote: “In a hotly contest field, RE100 stood out and the campaign to get corporates to switch to 100 per cent renewables has gone from strength to strength. The judges were hugely impressed by the campaign's global reach and sharp messaging, as well as the catalysing role it is playing for both corporate sustainability strategies and the renewables industry.”
Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group, said: “We are delighted to accept this award on behalf of RE100 members, staff and our international partners. Our team at The Climate Group and our colleagues at CDP have worked hard to sign up leading multinationals committed to 100% renewable electricity and to grow the initiative around the world.”
Just back from a trip to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, where there is rapidly growing interest in RE100, Sam Kimmins, Head of RE100, The Climate Group added, “RE100 is going from strength to strength. We are starting to see positive policy impacts as the result of increasing business demand for renewables – it goes to show that pioneers are more powerful in shifting markets away from fossil fuels when they come together as one.”
With a combined global revenue of over US$2.75 trillion, RE100 members – including Global Fortune 500 companies – represent a powerful new dynamic in global energy markets. The Climate Group showcases members’ progress towards their 100% renewable electricity goals and works to ensure governments recognize that, with the right market and policy environment, there is huge potential for business to provide a vast new source of capital to fund renewable energy infrastructure and achieve large carbon savings.
In 2017, we amplified the advocacy efforts of RE100 members through an open letter to the Council of the European Union and a meeting with key MEPs, calling for a supportive renewable energy policy framework. Improvements were adopted by the European Parliament – this month’s new provisional EU deal now targets 32% renewables across the EU by 2030.
We also called on companies to engage their suppliers on renewable electricity, publishing guidance and best practice examples in this field. A RE100 survey shows that learning from pioneer companies on how to engage suppliers and set appropriate targets is important for 90% of responding members.
Our most recent RE100 Progress and Insights report showed that many members had already achieved their 100% commitment, some faster than expected. In 2016, the average share of renewables in RE100 members’ power consumption was 1.3 times higher than the global rate of renewable electricity use.
“We hope this award recognizing our achievements encourages many more multinationals to become members of RE100, EP100 and EV100, to work with us to lower emissions and accelerate much needed climate action,” said Clarkson.
The Climate Group would like to take the this opportunity to congratulate all the other shortlisted award nominees for the work they have done on sustainability: 2 Degrees of Separation by Carbon Tracker, the TCFD implementation workshop series by Climate Disclosure Standards Board, the #BringBackHeavyMetal 2017 campaign by Ecosurety and Hubbub, Clean Air Day by Global Action Plan and Partners, The Square Mile Challenge by Hubbub, The River Itchen Challenge by Southern Water, The Carbon Literacy Project, The State of Sustainability in the UK Built Environment by UK Green Building Council and the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) Campaign by Vivergo Fuels.