£352bn investors want firms to use 100% clean energy
The investors, including Aviva Investors, Strathclyde Pension Fund and the Environment Agency Pension Fund, will be pushing global firms to join the RE100, a coalition of major businesses aiming to increase corporate demand for clean energy.
The initiative, coordinated by Responsible Investment charity ShareAction, will look to engage with companies through letters, meetings and AGMs following its recent launch at the offices of French pension fund ERAFP, during the UN’s climate conference in Paris.
Google, Microsoft and BMW are among several major firms to have joined the RE100 in the last week, with six companies making the pledge to switch to 100 per cent renewables at Monday’s Energy Day event in Paris.
A series of figures, also released on Monday alongside the RE100 announcements, estimated that once the companies committed to the RE100 are powered by renewables they will create demand for more than enough energy to power Hong Kong and Singapore combined, with the switch saving around 56Mt of CO2 every year; the rough equivalent of Morocco’s emissions.
Emily Farnworth, RE100 Campaign Director at The Climate Group, states that many companies are switching to renewable power at a remarkable rate and encouraging their suppliers and customers to do the same.
“Our analysis of the private sector’s electricity consumption and carbon emissions indicated that a switch to power from renewable sources could cut global CO2 by nearly 15%. By acting together, the world’s leading companies are creating a thriving renewable energy market that will help keep a global temperature rise below two degrees,” she said.
“The RE100 campaign is sending a clear message to Paris that the technological solutions to tackle climate change already exist, and that business supports the switch to renewable power. An ambitious and robust climate agreement will help accelerate the shift to the 100% renewable electricity future that everyone is calling for.”
Dr. Markus Schramm, Senior Vice President, Corporate Planning and Product Strategy at BMW Group, emphasises that the company is intensifying its efforts to produce more power in-house and to use energy from local renewable sources.
“The company actively supports the expansion of renewable energy as this enables us to increase our autonomy and profitability,” he commented.
Steve Waygood, Chief Responsible Investment Officer at Aviva Investors, added: "Aviva Investors believes that RE100 is an important and welcome initiative. We are happy to recommend RE100 to the companies that we own as worthy of serious consideration. It has the potential to be an important component of managing carbon impact and delivering a business model in line with 2 degrees."
