Amazon and Global Optimism Welcome Henkel and Signify to The Climate Pledge - Seite 2

"Climate change is a global challenge, which requires our collective action. At Henkel, we want to make a positive contribution to protecting the climate. Based on our achievements to date and in line with our ambitions for the coming years, we are pleased to join and support The Climate Pledge," said Henkel CEO Carsten Knobel. “Together with Amazon, Global Optimism, and the other signatories, we are committed to drive tangible progress and jointly take action to limit global warming.”

Signify, the world leader in lighting, is another new member of The Climate Pledge. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21), in Paris, in December 2015, Signify committed to achieve carbon neutral operations in 2020. Last September, it announced that it had reached this milestone and plans to double its positive impact on the environment and society by 2025. Signify will join The Climate Pledge to share its experience, and to help and encourage other signatories to advance their own carbon reduction programs.

“We are pleased to join The Climate Pledge community as it mobilizes companies to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement 10 years early,” said Harry Verhaar, Signify Head of Global Public and Government Affairs. “We are committed to sharing best practices with other companies from our own journey to carbon neutrality in 2020, and to ramp up our positive impact on the environment and society.”

“The Paris Agreement set out a unifying roadmap for all countries, all companies, and all people to address the climate crisis by taking actions to ensure we do not exceed 1.5C in global warming,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate change chief, now founding partner of Global Optimism. “By joining The Climate Pledge, these companies are demonstrating both their ambitions for the future and for recovery now. Their actions and investments are creating sorely needed jobs, spurring innovation, regenerating the natural environment, and helping their consumers to buy more sustainable products. The growing collective of companies joining The Climate Pledge, acting in accordance with science, is cause for optimism.”

Last year, Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment to reach the Paris Agreement 10 years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040. Amazon was the first signatory and thirteen organizations have now signed The Climate Pledge including: Amazon, Best Buy, Henkel, Infosys, McKinstry, Mercedes-Benz, Oak View Group, Real Betis, Reckitt Benckiser, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Signify, and Verizon—sending an important signal that there will be rapid growth in demand for products and services that help reduce carbon emissions.