The Business Case for adopTing The Long-Term goaL for neT zero emissions

A 21st Century Paradigm:
Long-term ambition driving transformational
business action on climate change
Track 0 presents this synthesis report to support business
decisions that enable the transition to a low carbon economy.
By aligning today's actions with the net zero goal, businesses
can realise clean, long-term growth opportunities
The Business Case for Adopting
the Long-Term Goal
for Net zero Emissions

1
In 2015, which sees the 70th Anniversary of the founding
of the United Nations, world leaders are working towards
two outcomes that will shape the future for generations
to come: the creation of the next set of global development
goals, and the culmination of critical climate change
negotiations which will take place in Paris in December.
Over the coming year we need to summons new strength
and deploy new knowledge to eliminate poverty, generate
sustainable economic growth and combat climate change.
Each of these is a challenge of immense proportions, but
one stands out because of its ability to undermine progress
on all the others – and that is the fact that we are rapidly
running out of time to avoid irreversible climate change.
By agreeing to keep warming as far below 2°C as possible,
the international community implicitly agreed to set a limit
on global cumulative carbon-dioxide emissions.
Reaching zero carbon is what is required to stay within
this “carbon budget”. This can be achieved through
a rapid peaking of the world’s carbon emissions, by 2020,
and a complete phase out of carbon emissions by 2050.
The climate challenge is immense. To deal with it,
demands global cooperation on an unprecedented scale –
a whole new era of solidarity based on an understanding
of our interconnectedness.
We have known for some time that we must construct
a future society where inclusive, low carbon growth
advances development and human rights. That means
fostering decent jobs and livelihoods, improving equality
including gender equality, expanding people’s access
to sustainable energy and affordable, nutritious food;
supporting sustainable cities; maintaining forests and other
vital eco-systems; and enhancing the health of both people
and the planet. In designing the global response to climate
change we have an opportunity to realise this future we
want, if we do it the climate justice way.
For me, climate justice embodies the moral argument
to act on climate change: being on the side of those who
are suffering most, while also ensuring that they don’t
suffer again as the world moves to act. Put bluntly,
in transitioning to a zero carbon world we must all be
alert to the very real possibility that the most vulnerable
people could be left behind.
On the flip side, a transition to zero carbon has
multiple opportunities for people in developed and
developing countries in terms of energy security,
greater competitiveness, decreased mortality, job
creation and greater resilience if that transition is
fair and respects human rights obligations. We just
have to design the transition to zero that is fair and
maximises these opportunities for everyone.
Climate justice demands actions from all countries
in phasing out carbon emissions and support for those
countries that are still developing in order to access
alternative sources of energy as well as investment
in green infrastructure and sustainable land use.
It is not just up to governments to drive the transition.
Real progress will require innovative, mutually beneficial
partnerships at all levels between governments,
corporations, non-governmental organizations, international
organizations and all others committed to a world where
fundamental rights are guaranteed for all people.
Business has a very clear role in delivering clean,
low-carbon economies and a better way of life for all.
Momentum is already growing in finance, business and
political circles for a net zero goal. But we need more.
The scale of actions required to transform the global
economy depend on businesses and investors driving
the transition away from today's fossil-fuel based economy
to a new, clean system. Leadership can come from all
business sectors, as this synthesis report demonstrates,
and business can play a role in making sure that the
transition to zero is inclusive and beneficial to all
members of society.
Adopting the net zero goal is not something to be put
off until later. In fact, economic evidence suggests that
actions and investments in the next five years and beyond
need to target the zero goal to avoid locking economies
into fossil fuel intensive infrastructure. The 2050 goal
will not be easy to deliver and some companies and
industries will find it more challenging than others.
But it’s a goal that clearly demonstrates that your company
will be fit for purpose 10, 20 or 30 years from now.
Far-sighted business leaders are increasingly directing
near-term emissions reductions towards a long-term 2050
goal for net zero. In doing so, they’re sending a positive
signal to investors, shareholders and policy-makers that
their companies are sustainable and future facing. I trust
this synthesis on the business case for the long-term
net zero goal will provide business leaders and executives
with the information they need to show greater ambition
in delivering climate action.
“We already have a head start on the
technologies we need. The costs of the
policies necessary to make the transition
to an economy powered by clean energy
are real, but modest relative to the risks…
Climate change is the challenge of our time.
Each of us must recognize that the risks
are personal. We’ve seen and felt the costs
of underestimating the financial bubble.
Let’s not ignore the climate bubble.”
Henry M. Paulson Jr
Former United States Secretary
of the Treasury 2006-2009
Writing in the New York Times,
21 June 2014
ForewardEmbracing the long-term
goal for net zero emissions
by mid-century provides
predictability in the face
of risk and complexity.
It defines the pathway to
the low-carbon economy.
Simply put, the net zero goal
is a game-changer, providing
clear direction for the near
term actions of business –
and all sectors – to meet
the globally agreed 2ºC
temperature rise limit.
Mary Robinson
UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy
on Climate Change, former
President of Ireland and Chair of the
Mary Robinson Foundation-Climate Justice
Photo:MRFCJ

2 The Business Case for Adopting the Long-Term Goal for Net zero Emissions 3
Contents Section Page
Introduction 5

snapshot: january 2015 6
Impetus for the net zero goal
Executive Summary: 7
Defining the net zero goal 10 reasons to adopt it
The Business Case: 10
Net zero is a strategy for business action to benefit people, planet and profit
Net zero aligns with policy direction, guided by science 12
Net zero leads to value growth and offers predictability 19
Net zero is a pathway to accelerate innovation, 27
reputation and competitive advantage
Making zero carbon living a reality: 32
The buildings sector: showing the way and reaping benefits
Influential business leaders promote net zero 34
Stimulating private and public sector unity
Companies committing to net zero 36
Momentum from leaders in diverse industries
Fairness is a business issue: 44
The long-term goal for net zero emissions aligns
companies with people power and equity for all
Authors note and acknowledgements 50
Appendix 52

Introduction
This December a new international
agreement on climate change will be
adopted by all countries in Paris, making
2015 the year for business leaders to
shift gears and seize opportunities for
sustainable value creation. Now is our
moment re-shape the foundations of our
economic system to both live well and
heal the planet.
Climate change and its devastating impacts
affect every nation. All countries already
have debts attributable to past incremental
actions. Companies are experiencing
the impacts too: rising costs of natural
resources, extreme weather disruption
to global supply chains and pressure to
divest from fossil fuels.
The latest science from the Inter-
governmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) and other progressive
scientists shows that global CO2
emissions
and all GHG emissions must reach near zero
well before 2100 if we are to have a likely
(two-thirds or better) chance of staying
below the globally agreed limit of 2ºC.
Many scientists say setting a timeframe
of zero emissions by 2050 1 would be safer.
On the one hand the majority of business
leaders believe the global economy is not
geared to meet basic water, food and energy
needs of 9 billion people by 2050 2.
Yet on the other hand acting decisively –
and collectively – on climate change can
be central to meeting this challenge.
In fact, the IPCC's Fifth Assesment Report 3
states near zero emissions can be achieved
with a modest 0.06 percent reduction
in annualized global consumption of the
1.6-3% growth projected, whilst bringing
benefits of energy security, resource
protection, improved health and air quality
and food security.
The premise of this synthesis is that
adopting the goal for net zero emissions,
in the timing consistent with science,
is a game-changer. Globally it means poverty
can be eradicated, natural resources valued
adequately and at the same time, opens
the gateway to innovation and prosperity
for business.
Whilst sectors and individual companies
will have different trajectories, setting a long
term 2050 timeframe for zero emissions
levels the playing field so that we’re all
marching in the same direction – countries,
companies, cities, even individuals.
This means business can prosper whilst
driving a low-carbon future, sending the right
signals to investors, shareholders, customers
and consumers.
The number of business leaders stepping
up to this challenge is growing. The B Team
companies and many leaders are showcasing
momentum for the net zero goal, providing
the impetus for the economic transition
needed and redefining the categories in
which they operate. Business leaders have
always anticipated social change in order
for their companies to remain competitive.
But we need more and we need a collective,
cross-sectorial effort.
This synthesis aims to show the business
case for net zero is an ambitious long-term
goal directing today’s business decisions for
a clean, fair, bright future.
Farhana Yamin
Founder CEO, Track 0
introduction
INTRODUCTION

January 2015 sees great momentum building
towards the agreement of a new International
Climate Treaty in December of this year.
The goal for net zero emissions has emerged as
a leading initiative unifying the aims of business,
communities, countries, citiies and campaigners
over the past year. The net zero goal, supported by
science, implies a major, irreversible shift away from
fossil fuels toward greater use of energy efficiency,
renewables and circular economy (non-wasteful)
systems of economic production. Ambitious leaders
are embracing achieving net zero by 2050 and
certainly before 2100.
The UK’s Labour Party Leader, Ed Miliband, setting
out his party’s international policy agenda this
month in the run-up to the May 2015 national
election, stated the two priorities are ending poverty
by 2030 and promoting net zero by 2050 in the
new international climate change agreement.
Speaking at an event during the World Economic
Forum in January 2015, Richard Branson committed
to use his influence and that of the B Team (an
initiative of progressive CEOs, of which is is Co-
Chair) to make business leaders widely aware of the
net zero goal and to encourage pledges to achieve
carbon neutrality by 2050.
World Bank Group President, Jim Kim committed
the World Bank to play its part in achieving net
zero emissions before 2100, by supporting clean
transportation, the building of low-carbon, livable
cities, particularly in developing countries, and
Climate Smart Agriculture. This is in addition to the
organisation’s leadership in carbon pricing.
Speaking at the opening of Abu Dhabi Sustainability
Week on 19 January, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber,
UAE Minister of State demonstrated the seismic
shift in the future direction of the energy landscape.
Dr Sultan said, “renewable energy has graduated
from an expensive alternative to a competitive
technology of choice.” Remarking on opportunites
arising from the low oil price, he also suggested
revisiting fossil fuel subsidies, saying this is
“money that can be otherwise redirected to improve
energy systems and transform economies,
by creating jobs, stimulating economic growth,
and educating future generations.”
IKEA Group said that investing in clean energy was
fundamental to reducing risk and building resilience
into their business during the World Economic
Forum. The retailer’s Steve Howard said, We took
a 9 million dollar hit to our business after Hurricane
Sandy. Climate change is a real business risk.
That is why we decided to go for a full 100% cover
of our energy production from renewables... We are
eliminating uncertainty over carbon pricing and our
energy exposure.
Although non-committal on an emissions peak,
India and the USA agreed a pact to include
numerous clean energy investment initiatives aimed
to help Indians overcome energy poverty, whilst
also escalating investment in renewables and low
carbon consumption lifestyles. This pact falls
short of the US-China agreement in that it does
not include a commitment for India to peak its
emissions or reduce coal-fired energy development
(More on the US-China pact is on page 16).
Snapshot:January 2015 Impetus for Net Zero
The goal for net zero is spreading
amongst leaders
Executive Summary
The net zero goal is a framework for action to keep
global surface temperature rise below 2ºC versus
pre-industrial levels. This can’t happen overnight;
there is a phasing out and phasing in period
between now and the end of this century.
All economies need to decarbonise, both developed
and those still developing, in order to meet the
net zero goal, although trajectories may differ
and developing countries may need support.
Businesses and governments that want to stand out
as leaders, especially those with the means in rich
countries, can do so by cutting CO2
emissions to
near zero through their own activities and those of
their value chains, as quickly as possible, knowing
that global emissions must be zero in the second
half of the century.
Terminology
There are several terms often used interchangeably
for net zero. Whilst there are technical differences,
all relate to a similar range of actions.
All imply a major, irreversible shift away from
fossil fuels toward greater use of energy efficiency,
renewables and circular economy (non-wasteful)
systems of economic production.
Net zero/net zero emissions Zero net emissions
Carbon neutrality Climate neutrality
Decarbonisation Phase out - Phase in
Global total GHG emissions must peak by no later than 2020.
Total GHG emissions need to be zero well before end century,
between 2060 and 2080 and likely negative thereafter.
CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industry
need to be zero around mid-century, between 2045
and by no later than 2065 and be negative thereafter 4
.
The implications of phasing out emissions
to net zero include:
Rapidly shifting away from fossil fuels towards
investment in renewable energy to equal or
exceed the carbon-based energy utilised through
companies’ own activities and their value chains
Activities that optimise the use of, or restore
natural carbon sinks, including:
Sustainable use of finite natural resources:
forests, oceans and freshwater
Contribution to restoration of depleted
resources that provide natural sinks,
including forestry and oceans
Reduction, recycling and re-use of waste
sources related to own activities and
consumption
snapshot / executive summary
snapshotexecutivesummary

1. The science is clear
and is directing action to zero
For a strong chance of reducing the human
and financial costs of climate change, surface
temperature rise cannot exceed 2ºC as compared
with pre-industrial levels. The net zero goal directs
actions to be compatible with 2ºC, in the timing
consistent with the November 2014 IPCC
AR5 Synthesis Report which states that all
greenhouse gas emissions must be near zero
by 2100, with radical reductions in CO2
sooner - around mid-century.
2. Zero is the direction required
by new policy and regulation
At the UN Climate Summit in September 2014,
60 countries’ statements included support for
the net zero goal, as did the statements of major
business, cities and civil society. By December
2014, at the UNFCCC negotiations in Lima,
Peru, nearly 100 countries supported the inclusion
of a long-term goal in the draft agreement text
being negotiated this year, to be signed in Paris
in December 2015. This sets the direction for
zero emissions goals at the national, sub-national
and city level policy.
3. Adopting the net zero goal
makes sense of near-term targets
Delays and fragmented actions in the past sent
global emissions in the wrong direction. A 2050
horizon sets the strategic direction for business
to align short-term investments with long-term
global economic, political and investment shifts.
2020 and 2030 actions and investments are
essential to ensure a 2ºC world is possible.
With USD90 trillion to be invested in long-lived
infrastructure in the next 15 years, companies
that are setting their near-term actions towards
achieving net zero by 2050 are demonstrating
leadership and enabling predictability.
4. Low-carbon growth is sustainable
and puts risk under control
The assumption that economic growth needs
high-carbon energy has been wholly disproved.
It is in the direct interest and control of business
leaders to (a) reduce the energy intensity of their
value chains; (b) radically cut overall emissions
through growth-directed commercial innovations
and (c) invest in renewables to offset any remaining
fossil-fuel based energy use, transitioning to 100%
clean energy as rapidly as possible.
5. Net zero actions offer savings
to businesses of all sizes
The energy sector, which supplies all other sectors,
is reliant on a complex range of subsidies that
cannot survive the policy directions of countries,
regions and cities. This will make energy from
fossil fuels increasingly expensive, whilst wind
and solar power, already cost-competitive, are
growing rapidly and attracting private and public
investment. The less carbon a company emits, the
less exposure it will have to carbon pricing. Paying
for carbon through taxation or other instruments
will bring about new and additional costs to doing
business. It is likely new carbon pricing tools will
include mechanisms to ratchet up cost over time,
diminishing profitability of business as usual.
6. Committing to net zero sends a
positive signal to investors and shareholders
Long-range investors seek predictability.
A decisive statement by a company that it is
committed to the net zero goal, demonstrated by
linking 2020 and 2030 targets to a 2050 horizon,
makes its intentions clear and in turn attracts
investor confidence. Many progressive investors
are withdrawing from companies invested in coal
and all inefficient fossil-fuel sources, with vocal
encouragement from political leaders, youth and
even the United Nations Secretary-General.
reasons for
business to adopt
the net-zero goal
7. Net zero stimulates innovation,
growth, jobs and value creation
Businesses of all sizes that have placed net
zero at the heart of their strategies are showing
commercial success through innovative products
and services, new revenue models, new customers
and exciting partnerships. These leaders, from
large transformational corporations, people-powered
sharing economy businesses and entrepreneurial
new ventures, are redefining sectors, assuring
long-term profitability and topline growth.
Their products and services improve customer
productivity or consumers’ quality of life, and
forge low carbon consumption habits through their
use. Moreover, investing in low carbon solutions
leads directly to retaining and creating sustainable
employment and value growth, which improves
lives and livelihoods, even in slower growing
developed economies.
8. Zero unifies all stakeholders
and demonstrates shared value
Empowered and connected better than any previous
generation, the public is well informed on global
challenges. Expectations that companies will play an
active role in accelerating solutions to these issues
run high; in fact people assign equal responsibility to
companies and governments for their future quality
of life. Aiming for zero is easily understandable and
signals a company is committed to real change and
clarity. By demonstrating their actions are aimed
towards a net zero emissions goal, in the timing
compatible with the 2ºC limit, companies authentically
enhance their reputations and create purchase
preference for products and services that improve
consumption behavior throughout the value chain.
9. Phasing out emissions to
net zero signals leadership in the
movement for a sustainable future
By 2050 there will be 9.6 billion people in the world,
70% in urban areas. To ensure food, water, energy
and health systems can meet basic needs is a major
focus of the United Nations. Governments can’t
address these challenges alone; the private sector
must participate. Emissions reductions by business,
aligned with governments, contribute to eradicating
poverty and ensure future generations’ health
and wellbeing. The poor need access to energy to
develop, but should not be locked into generations
of health-threatening carbon pollution. Our youth
and subsequent generations will need to sustain
larger populations with lower impacts on resources.
The transition to a low carbon future is necessary
to sustain resources for future generations.
This is not only a moral argument; business too
needs affordable resources today and in the future.
10. Net zero aligns business
with people power
NGOs, campaigners and not-for-profit organisations
are increasingly important partners for progressive
companies. The tools, organising capability and
intelligence of civil society groups influence the
media, the general public and political decision-
makers. Leading civil society groups promote
the adoption of net zero by mid-century, as an
ambitious, fair pathway. Their calls for divestment,
decarbonisation and the transition to 100% clean
renewable energy have changed the conversation on
climate change globally and nationally. These groups
have the mandate for corporate scrutiny and can
catalyse citizens to censure companies and pressure
investors. Businesses aligned with civil society
can benefit from people-powered movements for
sustainable consumption and a bright future.
10 reasons or business to adopt the net-zero goal
executivesummary

“We do not face a choice between
protecting our environment or protecting
our economy. We face a choice between
protecting our economy by protecting our
environment – or allowing environmental
havoc to create economic havoc.
Many committed business leaders, mayors of cities around the world
and global investors are acting in line with the zero emissions pathway
and they’re galvanising action in the international political arena.
The pathway to reach net zero will vary by sector and by company,
and effective measurement tools may differ. The lesson from past
inadequacy is that a common goal is needed to unify government,
business and citizen action. Net zero offers a tangible, direction
setting, unifying goal, which makes it clear which actions are on track
for transition, with the end result of staying below the globally agreed
2ºC temperature rise limit.
Adopting net zero is a strategic pathway
for business actions to benefit people,
planet and profit
Robert Rubin, United States Secretary
of the Treasury (1995–1999),
Risky Business Report, June 2014
Net zero or carbon neutrality as a strategic driver of investment and
financial success is already being realised by pioneers across the political,
local authority, business and investor spectrum. There are three core
drivers guiding the business case and generating momentum for adopting
net zero as a strategic goal driving business in the 21st century.
The drivers guiding the business case for Net Zero
US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew
This is the first statement about the economics of climate change from
a US Treasury Secretary in office, signaling clear commitment from the
worlds’ largest emitter to base action and policy on climate science.
“The world can either choose to ignore the challenge
today and be forced take more drastic action farther down
the road at greater costs. Or we can make sensible,
modest and gradual changes now and in the process,
create jobs, reduce business and household expenses
and drive innovation, technology and new industries.”
1. Science and
Policy Clarity
There is clear scientific
evidence that net zero
defines the horizon
New policy instruments
will incentivise action to
zero Policy makers at all
levels see net zero as a
game-changer and unifier
2. Economics
Financial Performance
Acting early offers risk
and cost advantages
Investors are ‘betting’
on low-carbon
Renewables offer high return
offsets, jobs and growth
Carbon pricing incentives
to reduce emissions
3. Innovation, Reputation
and Growth Advantages
Some business leaders are
already winning with net zero /
zero innovation strategies
The idea of ‘zero’ becoming
part of everyday lifestyle unites
companies with consumers
and citizens
Zero is a driver of sustainable
business since eliminating CO2
drives zero waste, low impact
resource use and increased
clean energy use
Incentives for businesses to adopt net zero long-term commitments
are coming from both regulation and economics. It is the clear
science that is driving policy-makers and the economic direction
towards actions that are 2ºC compatible.
the business case: introduction 3 drivers guiding the business case for net zero
thebusinesscase

Net zero aligns with policy
direction, guided by science
For leaders in all sectors, there are three key points
the IPCC report signifies in the context of adopting
the long-term goal for net zero:
a) Acting early and decisively over the next few
decades reduces the long-term cost of actions
needed and enhances resilience
b) Energy systems must be transformed so that CO2
from fossil fuel sources is reduced rapidly since
CO2
emissions are the main driver of warming
c) The cost of getting to net zero in the timing
required is affordable at 0.6% reduction in
projected annual consumption growth of 1.6-3%
per year is, excluding the co-benefits reduced
social costs associated with climate change
The November 2014 IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report
is a stark call to action for immediate and decisive shifts in policy
and economic activity, directed toward the long-term goal for net zero.
The Report calls for near zero emissions globally by 2100.
“Adaptation can reduce the risks of climate change
impacts, but there are limits to its effectiveness…
There are multiple mitigation pathways that are likely
to limit warming to below 2ºC relative to pre-industrial
levels. These pathways would require substantial
emissions reductions over the next few decades and near
zero emissions of carbon dioxide and other long-lived
greenhouse gases by the end of the century.”
For a 66% or better chance of keeping global
warming below the 2˚C limit:
The IPCC concludes that by 2050 total global
GHG emissions must be 40 - 70% lower than
the 2010 baseline.
The science case is clear: all GHG emissions
must be near zero well before 2100
Ambitious leadership by business
can accelerate global action
The net zero goal is a game-changer.
It offers direction for transparent
actions and gives a comparable framework
for all individual strategies.
By 2020: Global total GHG emissions need to peak
By 2050:
CO2
emissions from fossil fuel combustion
and industry need to be zero around
mid-century, between 2045 and by no later
than 2065 and be negative thereafter
Before 2100:
Total GHG emissions need to be zero
before end century, between 2060
and 2080 and likely negative thereafter
For n 85% chance of staying below 2˚C,
other influential scientists recommend
reaching net zero emissions by 2050 5.
the business case: Net zero aligns with policy direction, guided by science
thebusinesscase

Past incremental action has placed
a heavy cost burden on business and society
For multi-national and local business activities, climate
event impacts have caused disruption to supply
chains, transport and deliveries affecting revenues and
share price. In the 2015 Global Risks Report 6, issued
by the World Economic Forum in advance of its annual
gathering in January 2015, lists numerous weather
and environmental factors as high likelihood and high
impact risks. Much of this can be directly related
to – and mitigated in large part by – tackling climate
change with the adoption of a long-term goal.
To avert increased frequency of climate related
weather events, future water crises and biodiversity
loss, the science case for the net zero goal is
unequivocal: emissions reductions across all sectors
should direct a shift in economic activities to be
2ºC compatible.
International political momentum is building:
nearly 100 countries already support including
a long-term goal in the new, climate change agreement
Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Speaking at the launch of the IPCC AR5 Synthesis Report, intended to inform
international policymakers on the underlying science of climate change
“We have little time before the window of opportunity
to stay within 2ºC of warming closes. To keep a good
chance of staying below 2ºC, and at manageable costs,
our emissions should drop by 40 to 70 percent globally
between 2010 and 2050, falling to zero or below by 2100.
We have that opportunity, and the choice is in our hands.”
The Ten Global Risks in Terms of Likelihood and Impact
Top 10 risks in terms of
likelihood:
1. Interstate conflict
2. Extreme weather events
3. Failiure of national governance
4. State collapse or crisis
5. Unenployment or underemployment
6. Natural catstrophes
7. Failure of climate-change adaptation
8. Water crises
9. Data fraud or theft
10. Cyber attacks
Top 10 risks in terms of
Impact:
1. Water crises
2. Spread of infectious deseases
3. Weapons of mass destruction
4. Interstate conflict
5. Failure of climate-change adaptation
6. Energy price shock
7. Critical information infrastructure breakdown
8. Fiscal crises
9. Unenployment or underemployment
Categories:
Economic
Environmental
Geopolitical
Societal
Technological
World economic Forum Global Risks Report 2014
Ban Ki Moon, UN Secretary General
Chair’s Summary, UN Climate Summit,
Sept 2014
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change
Writing with Mario Molini, Nobel-prize wining
chemist in the Guardian, Sept 2014
“Many leaders, from all
regions and all levels of
economic development
advocated for a peak in
greenhouse gas emissions
before 2020, dramatically
reduced emissions thereafter,
and climate neutrality in the
second half of the century”
“There is ample evidence from
the UN’s climate science panel
that global greenhouse gas
emissions have to be zero or
near zero by the end of the 21st
Century if we want to achieve
the goal of holding a global
temperature rise below 2ºC.
Climate neutrality is not nirvana
or an alternative universe.”
the business case: heavy burden / political momentum
thebusinesscase

Appetite for the clarity and unity the net zero
pathway offers began to scale up in September
2014 at the United Nations Climate Summit hosted
by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, where more
than 60 countries made statements committing to
the idea of a long-term goal with many announcing
their own national actions in terms of net zero,
carbon neutrality or decarbonisation by 2050.
Support for including a long term emissions
reductions goal to be part of the Paris agreement
is getting traction from a range of large developed
countries and regions (the EU and several of its
members are in support) as well as from developing
countries in Africa, the Alliance of Small Island
States (AOSIS), the Least Developed Countries and
many AILAC countries from the Latin America
Caribbean region.
Momentum continues to build in the international
political circles as the negotiation rounds continue
in 2015, towards the final agreement in December.
The momentum for tackling climate change,
with a clear and decisive long-term goal is
also emerging as a national political issue.
In the UK, Labour Party leader Ed Milliband has
made leadership on climate change a core part
of his campaign for upcoming national elections,
to be decided by British voters in early May 2015.
In a speech in January 2015, Miliband set out
his leadership agenda for the international arena on
the basis of poverty eradication and tackling climate
change by committing to the net zero goal.
According to Labour’s press release, policy
direction would include “a separate development
goal on climate change [in the Sustainable
Development Goals to be agreed at the
UN in September 2015] and a binding
international agreement on climate change
leading to zero net carbon emissions
by 2050 with the UK leading the way by
decarbonising electricity supply by 2030”.
Of 195 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), nearly 100 support the inclusion of a long-term
goal in the new international climate treaty currently being negotiated.
The announcement in November 2014 by China
and the USA of a pact to cut GHG emissions sends
an influential signal to all other countries, investors
and businesses. It follows the announcement by the
EU to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030.
Thus all major economic blocs are aligning around
emissions reductions.
The USA-China pact shows the worlds’ two largest
economies, accounting for 45% of total global
emissions, are shaping ambitious policies towards
the long term horizon
It is the first time a US President has committed
the USA to a target beyond 2020, signaling to
business, investors and the public that long-term
commitments should be set to make sense of
near-term targets
The commitment sees the USA doubling its rate of
emissions cuts between 2020 and 2025 to meet its
2025 target of 26-28% below 2005 levels
China’s commitment to peak emissions by 2030
signals that the country is aiming its emissions
trajectory downward and investments will be
directed away from fossil-furl based energy.
China, already the largest investor in renewable
energy, has committed to providing 20% of the
country’s energy from zero-carbon, clean power,
requiring new infrastructure about equal to the size
of the entire USA electricity market
The announcement sends a clear signal on the jobs,
investment and innovation China will add to the
renewables sector in the next 15 years
To illustrate, currently China completes a coal-fired
power plant every 8-10 days. The country’s 2030
renewables pledge means building zero carbon
energy infrastructure that is larger in capacity
than all the coal-fired power in China today,
demonstrating that the worlds’ largest developing
economy anticipates growth through zero-emissions
What the China-USA landmark climate pact means for net zero this century
Cities lead with innovations driven
by commitment to action for net zero
Cities make up 80% of global GDP
and 70% of global carbon emissions.
By 2050 70% of the global population will live in
new and existing urban areas (versus 53% today).
The steps cities take today to curb emissions offer
learning examples that can benefit future new urban
environments, where the majority of citizens will
live. Setting new standards for connected, compact
energy efficient urban infrastructure is important,
since these investments last for up to a century.
Many cities are now setting 2050 commitments
and offering clarity they’re on track for net zero
emissions. In doing so, cities demonstrate leadership
on citizens’ issues – their quality of life and
economic wellbeing. This attracts private investment
and business growth, leading to economic prosperity,
alongside lifestyle and health co-benefits.
These cities are finding thriving local economies
go hand in hand with emissions reductions.
By stating 2050 targets leading cities are reducing
emissions at three times the rate of cities that don’t
report emissions cutting targets 8.
Cities can and should be ambitious, since they
compete with each other for investment and
commerce, which in turn brings the population
required for growth.
Leading cities are getting on track for net zero
by committing to emissions reductions of 80%
or more by 2050 8:
Antwerp, Berlin, Boston, Boulder, Chicago, Colwood,
Cleveland, Copenhagen*, District of Columbia,
Hamburg, London, Melbourne*, Minneapolis, New
York, Oslo*, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle*,
Stockholm*, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver, Vasteras,
Yokohama and Zurich
* Committed to 100% emissions reduction by 2050
the business case: UNFCCC / Cities lead with innovations driven by commitment
thebusinesscase

“Climate change is fundamentally a product of market
failure, and if national governments can’t intervene,
local governments must. We shouldn’t be afraid of good
regulation – it drives successful markets, for example,
the Clean Air legislation in Los Angeles cleaned up
air pollution and now Mayor Garcetti leads a trade
delegation to China to sell the technology solutions.
In the UK, Bristol is setting up its own energy company
to provide a district heating solution that a poorly
incentivized national market won’t provide.”
Mark Watts, CEO, C40,
a collaboration of 70 global cities
united to tackle climate change
Citizen power matters increasingly as more cities
elect their mayors. Today cities account for 7 million
air-pollution related deaths 9 each year.
Zero emissions is a solution to the long-term
financial health of cities and offers co-benefits to
the social costs of climate impacts, such as health
costs and societal wellbeoing.
The concept of ‘zero’ also has a political upside:
Citizens understand the concept and it resonates
with expectations of better living standards and
resilience. Voters and tax payers expect clean air,
clean water, clean transport and transparent use
of taxes to facilitate these, all of which can be
related to a net zero policy frame for cities. In this
way, city leaders are already making net zero a part
of the language of everyday life.
Sub-national governments around the world are
also viewing net zero as a pathway to enhance
living standards and address the needs of voters,
business and citizens. These governments
increasingly use environmental regulation
to impact on local economies.
A Compact of States and Regions has now been
formed that will report emissions and targets 10.
Sub-national governments with 80% or greater
emissions related targets include:
Baden-Wuerttemberg (Germany), California (USA),
Connecticut (USA), New York (USA), North Rhine-
Westphalia (Germany), Ontario (Canada), Scotland
(UK), Wales (UK), Wallonia (Belgium) 11
Other organisations are developing pilot projects
at the community level to promote greater
sub-national engagment with determining net zero
long-term goals. For example the US-based Clean
Energy States Alliance profiles eight innovative
projects that are already at or near zero emissions
energy provision. These include powering a remote
Alaskan island with 99% of energy from renewable
sources, saving the 6,300 residents $13 million
in fuel costs 12.
OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050
“Delaying action [on emissions
reduction] is costly. Delayed or
only moderate action up to 2020
would increase the pace and scale
of efforts needed after 2020.
It would lead to 50% higher costs
in 2050 compared to timely
action, and potentially entail
higher environmental risk.”
“In a year’s time, the international community
will have the opportunity to send a clear
signal that we, as a global community, are
determined to manage our economies to
achieve zero net emissions before the year
2100. The higher the ambition, the greater
the demand will be for programs and projects
that will transform economies. ”
World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim,
Washington, DC, United States, 8 December 2014
The incentives for early action on emissions
reductions that are driving the strategies of
forward-looking city leaders are also influencing
business leaders from all commercial sectors.
The science directing actions to zero long-term
emissions also shows that early action is advisable,
since the cost of tackling climate change escalates
with every year of delay.
According to a July 2014 White House economic
report 13, net mitigation costs increase on average
by approximately 40% for each decade of delay.
A delay that results in warming of 3ºC versus
pre-industrial levels can cost 0.9% of global GDP,
a loss of around $150 billion for the USA alone.
These costs are not once off, they are projected
to recur on an annual basis.
Near-term investment aiming for net zero offers long-term savings
The Global Commission on the Economy and
Climate launched a September 2014 report,
entitled “Better Growth Better Climate”.
A comprehensive review of the global
economic outlook, it concludes that growth
and emissions can and must be decoupled,
that this is technically feasible and offers a
lower cost solution in the long run than the
current system incentivising high emissions
growth, based on subsidies and short-term
economic modeling.
“The IPCC shows that for a two-thirds or
better chance of holding warming to 2ºC,
GHG emissions will need to fall to near-
zero or below in the second half of the
century… technological innovation is very
likely to make it achievable – and even
likelier if governments adopt the goal
and incentivise its achievement.”
New Climate Economy Report,
September 2014, from the Global
Commission on the Economy and
Climate, Chaired by Filipe Calderon,
and including former heads of state
and finance ministers, Lord Nicholas
Stern (London School of Economics),
Chen Yuan (former Chair of China
Development Bank) and others
Net Zero leads to value growth
and offers predictability
the business case: innovations driven by commitment / value growth
thebusinesscase

The potential gains of early leadership in low-carbon
transition and innovation offers attractive returns
now and over the long run. Actions that align with
net zero pathways, including retiring inefficient fossil
fuel fired power stations, retrofitting buildings and
investing in a range of technologies to reduce GHG
emissions has a net economic cost that is relatively
small, amounting to 1-4% of GDP by 2030 14.
This action will impact to drive global emissions
down to near zero in the second half of the century,
achieving the likely 2ºC pathway.
The cost (economic loss) of cutting coal is relatively
low since coal fires 40% of global electricity but
accounts for 70% of the CO2
emissions
To be 2ºC compatible, 88% of today’s coal
reserves must stay in the ground 16
Traditional power plants are cost-inefficient:
operating costs are high, with around half going
to combustible materials. The traditional business
model locks in high cost, high emissions and in
future, disincentives such as carbon pricing
Many are calling for the re-distribution of subsidies
away from fossil fuels to low carbon alternatives
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates
a partial phase out of fossil fuel subsidies will lead
to reducing 12% of total global GHG emissions, yet
for every $1 of support for renewables in 2011,
$6 was spent on fossil fuel subsidies 17
Net zero is an action frame directing investment to maximise returns
“The UK already has
world-leading low-carbon
businesses and a good [2015
International Climate Change]
deal can drive further
investment, innovation
and market growth, while
ensuring that all businesses
and nations can compete
on an equal footing.”
John Cridland, Director-General CBI
September 2014
Investment in the next 5-15 years guided by the long-term goal
of net zero emissions, can lay the foundation for low-carbon growth
For businesses of all sizes, eliminating energy bought from coal-fired sources
offers low-cost high-carbon reductions on the pathway to zero
Political direction, science and now economics have
escalated investment in renewables. 2014 saw
global investment of $310bn, almost at its 2011
high of $317bn in value terms
In 2014 the dollars bought nearly double the
energy capacity of 2011 18
Solar and wind at large scale are cost-competitive
with coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants.
In the last 5 years the costs have dropped for
large-scale solar by 80% and for land-based
wind by 60% 19
The reduction in warming projected by 2100
achieved with a switch from coal to gas is only
25-45% of what is obtained with a switch
to renewables 20
Over the long run, zero emissions energy has zero
source costs (sunlight, wind), offering long term
predictability, cost-efficiency today and strong
returns as government actions scale up
Replacing near term energy emissions from fossil fuels with the equivalent
investment in zero-carbon renewables leads to long-term returns
Demand for energy is likely to rise by 20-35%
in the next 15 years, which must be met in
sustainable ways, not through high-carbon sources
Emissions will be concentrated in cities, land use
and energy systems where $90 trillion is likely to be
invested in long-lived infrastructure 15 presenting an
opportunity to meet growing energy demand through
investing in:
Zero emissions technologies
Restoration of natural carbon sinks
(especially forests) and agricultural land
Resource-efficient products, particularly
products influencing low carbon consumption
and reducing waste by incorporating circular
economy principles
the business case: Net zero is an action frame directing investment
thebusinesscase

Businesses with net zero actions give investors the right signal
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has calculated that 10 times the jobs arise
from clean energy initiatives as from fossil
fuel energy schemes 21.
Co-benefits include income improvement at local
or sub-national level, as well as reduced costs of
illness associated with the poor air quality resulting
from fossil fuel combustion. Health and wellbeing
adds additional benefits to business and society in
the form of improved productivity, reduced crime
The global low carbon and
environmental goods services
market is currently valued at b4
trillion a year and is expected to
grow by 25% to b5 trillion by 2016.
Very few industries can boast that
kind of growth rate. The EU’s 22%
share of this market is accountable
for 7.8 million jobs in 1 million
companies 22.
Growth in Low Carbon Environmental Goods Services Market - Europe
Net zero is growth and a jobs multiplier
“A low carbon energy union is Europe’s opportunity to solve the energy
trilemma of costs, security and decarbonisation whilst addressing
jobs and growth. Under one IEA scenario that is consistent with 2°C
policies, by 2035 the EU’s annual fossil fuel import bill could fall by
46% - or it could increase by as much as 80%-90% if left unchecked.
As if that weren’t incentive enough, the European Commission
estimates that up to 6.5 million jobs could be created or retained by
2020 in renewables, energy efficiency and from reinvested Emissions
Trading Scheme (ETS) revenues. Portugal has saved 1 billion Euros
per annum and is currently experiencing a trade surplus of energy.”
Sandrine Dixson-Declève, Director,
The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group
Source: BIS LCEGS Data, provided by The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group
Investors are increasingly educated on the risks of
climate change. At the Principles for Responsible
Investing (PRI) Summit in Montreal in September
2014, the Montreal Carbon Pledge was launched
asking investors to commit to the goals of the recently
announced Portfolio Decarbonisation Coalition, which
will mobilise investors to measure, disclose and
reduce their portfolio carbon footprints at the scale of
hundreds of billions of dollars by the December 2015
UNFCCC COP in Paris 23.
Long-range investors, acting on fiduciary responsibility,
are withdrawing from assets that are not climate
resilient. Businesses showing a clear pathway to
long-term zero emissions, across the value chain,
demonstrate resiliency to attract investor confidence,
alongside strong returns.
Examples of investors shifting from assets with a high
exposure to fossil fuels to those with long-term clean
growth are:
Norway’s largest pension fund manager, KLP, with
b33m under investment, announced in November
2014 it would divest from companies that derive a
large proportion of their revenues from coal. About
5% of its assets are invested in renewable energy
today and the company is seeking to expand that
portfolio
In July 2014 the World Council
of Churches announced,
“The committee discussed the ethical
investment criteria, and considered that
the list of sectors in which the WCC does
not invest should be extended to include
fossil fuels.”
Altogether, institutions and individuals responsible
for at least $50bn of investment have said they
will sell some or all of their fossil fuel holdings,
according to media reports 24
Long-range investors are likely to be directed to
develop more secure investment pathways than
that offered by fossil fuels
The recent US-China 25 ‘deal’ on climate change
sends a strong signal to investors who may have
previously shied away from fossil fuel divestment
Weak oil prices ($50 per barrel in January 2015)
are likely to reinforce this view. The USA’s shale
oil ‘boom’ becomes cost-inefficient at this price
and is likely to impact on ‘small oil’, the many
employers who will not survive cancelled and
shortened contracts of an unsustainable and
short-lived bubble 26

“The fact is that global
temperature increases of any
more than two degrees Celsius
will put our global economy
in jeopardy, and we’re currently
on a path to significantly
exceed this threshold.
In order to protect our way
of life, the world must invest
an additional trillion dollars
per year into clean energy.
Yet, the fossil fuel industry is
still spending more than half
a trillion dollars a year to
develop reserves that will likely
need to remain in the ground.”
Mindy Lubber, President of Ceres
and its Investor Network on Climate Risk
including 100 institutional investors with
$10 trillion in assets
the business case: Net zero is a growth multiplier / net zero actions
thebusinesscase

Carbon pricing: shifting incentives and
cross-sector unity to net zero actions
“There has to be a price on carbon, because there is a price on carbon:
it’s the consequences to health, to the economy and to our climate.
We face an existential challenge with the changes in our climate.
The time to act is now.”
“The science is clear. The economics are compelling. We are seeing
a shift toward the economic architecture that will be necessary
to avoid a 2-degree-warmer world, an architecture that supports
green growth, jobs and competitiveness. ”
Jerry Brown, Governor of California, USA,
September 2014
Rachel Kyte, World Bank Group Vice President
and Special Envoy for Climate Change
Carbon pricing incentivises united ambitious action
for governments and businesses to work together for
a zero carbon economy. Whether through ‘cap and
trade schemes’ or carbon taxes applied regionally,
such as in Canada’s British Columbia region, putting
a price on carbon emissions shifts financial decisions
and therefore entire economies to low-carbon
growth through innovation, and encourages lowering
emissions intensity in current economic activities.
Local, sub-national and national governments are
using carbon pricing to shift their economies towards
net zero emissions:
Active carbon pricing schemes exist in nearly
40 countries and 20+ cities, states and provinces
Many governments are testing pricing instruments:
For example China has seven local pilot carbon
markets that are helping the government plan
for a national carbon trading system
Leading companies are preparing for carbon pricing
and are seeing it as a tool directing investment to
maximise returns for zero carbon and low carbon
actions 27
150+ large businesses are using internal carbon
pricing in their decision-making
600 large companies see regulations creating
new business opportunities
164 business leaders have committed their
companies to support a strong carbon price via
The Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group
Carbon Pricing Communiqué 28
Putting a price on carbon opens a range of
disincentives for emitters once fully mobilized. The
IMF has reported carbon pricing offers a “double
dividend”. Their study looked at the world’s 20
largest CO2
emitters, and found the average national
benefit, excluding any climate effects, would justify
a significant carbon price of $57.5 per ton of CO2
on average 29. The report found that domestic
environmental benefits such as reductions in
pollution-related deaths exceed the mitigation costs.
For some energy intensive businesses, a price or
value on a unit of carbon opens RD opportunities
to scale up carbon capture and storage (CCS).
This is unwelcome news to campaigners and some
environmentalists, who believe that treating carbon
as a commodity incentivises emissions, rather than
the rapid reductions supported by science.
Many investors and businesses believe CCS may
aid in more rapid CO2
reductions in the short term,
where the process of ‘phasing out-phasing in’
is taking place. Significant capital investment is
seen as a stumbling block for the technology, since
renewables are increasingly affordable and offer a 2-3
year payback, yet CCS projects are not yet sufficiently
viable to scale at the optimal pace to be effective.
Growing momentum for carbon pricing: the global picture in 2014
Source: World Bank Report: State Trends of Carbon Pricing 2014, published 28 May 2014
the business case: carbon picing
thebusinesscase

1. Governments, citizens and
businesses need to unify action
towards global ambition for deep
economic transformation, showing
clearly phased trajectories towards
meeting the net zero goal in the
timing that is 2ºC compatible
2. Deep economic transformation
means businesses should take the
lead by setting targets for their
own activities, and those of the full
value chain, including outsourced
activities, transport and deliveries,
supplier procurement standards and
consumption behavior
3. Decisions and investments should
be directed towards zero to begin as
quickly as possible in order to avoid
the higher costs associated with
more rapid reductions later on
4. Near-term reduction goals and
investments should demonstrate how
they relate to meeting the long-term
2050 targets
5. The aim of meeting the net zero
goal must be achieved by phasing
out fossil fuel based energy and
phasing in clean, renewable energy
through the full value chain
6. Targets and activities aligned with
the long-term goal for net zero should
be clearly stated and reported in
order to demonstrate resilience to
shareholders and investors
For business to break with the past and transition
to a low carbon economy, actions to be taken are:
By nature all businesses are competitive and strive
to innovate to remain ahead of the game.
The low carbon economic transition will have to
be primarily brought about by business, with the
correct policy enablers.
Large future-facing incumbents are showing
leadership alongside a new group of emerging leaders
that are taking advantage of the market potential for
low-carbon innovative products and services.
It is many of these that can enable the rapid
transition needed to avoid costly lags in the journey
to a zero emissions future.
The incentives to innovate, in new ventures or existing
companies of all sizes, are grounded in market forces.
The size of the prize includes increased revenues,
profits and rapid carbon reduction or avoidance.
The voice of business is critical in catalyzing ambition
in policy at all levels. Progressive business needs
enablers that level the playing field, allowing those
who invest and act early to command industry
advantage. At the same time, the ambition of
companies to introduce new market opportunities for
zero emissions innovations influences governments at
all levels, including the international process.
The examples here are just a few of those driving
momentum for economic transformation, through
their own operations, and through the influence that
companies and brands exert across the value chain.
These businesses offer stories that:
Unlock infrastructure investment from investors
and governments to enable low and zero carbon
models to scale
Attract consumers purchase preference and loyalty
in a world where people expect their expenditure
to improve their quality of life
Educate suppliers and insist on resource-efficiency
from providers of input technologies and materials,
as well as outsourced services
Change behavior by educating employees
and consumers
Change lifestyles by offering products and
services that decrease or eliminate the end-users’
carbon consumption
The net zero goal catalyses entrepreneurial
innovation taht shifts consumption
The net zero pathway accelerates
innovation, reputation
and competitive advantage
the business case: net zero pathway accelerates innovation
thebusinesscase

Whilst large-scale energy grids will continue to offer
beneficial factors to many communities, off-grid
and independently owned energy generation projects
have been considered thus far as only suitable for
very large corporations or for small, social energy
initiatives, such as local micro-schemes in rural
and developing communities.
In fact, the developing world initiatives to overcome
energy poverty have proven to be innovation
lighthouses, showing the way that millions of
city and town dwellers can reduce their reliance
on high carbon energy. These solutions are tapping
into consumers’ interest in collaborative consumption,
‘rented’ (rather than owned) infrastructure and
other types of service delivery models grounded
in mutuality. Two examples are showcased below.
Geostellar 30 has gone a step further in scaling the
marketplace for micro-renewables. The competitive
business-to-consumer solar PV market, with high
associated marketing costs, is attracting greater
numbers of competitors in different countries.
Geosteller is making solar affordable by providing it
as an employee benefit to householders via corporate
employers. This is not only smart marketing,
it escalates the potential to scale clean energy
solutions in old and new built environments, tapping
into the demands of employees who expecting their
companies to show the way on sustainable lifestyles.
Geosteller customers are large-scale employers,
including 3M, Cisco, Kimberley-Clark, and the
National Geographic Society.
Decentralised Community Energy: New businesses are showing
the way to a multi-model circular economy energy future
Consumers are increasingly interested in
products and services from ethical sources,
including energy. Mosaic and Solar City are two
examples of clean consumer electricity models
demonstrating the potential for scale. They have
created a marketplace for individual household
investors out of people willing to have a no-cost
solar installation on their homes’ roofs. In fact
the schemes have transitioned to offer added
value financial products, giving innovative leasing
solutions to households. They’re becoming so
popular, there are expectations of a price war
between competitive firms.
Solar Leasing: Power to the people, owned by the people
Employer-led Community Energy: Employee Benefits Beyond the Pay Cheque
On-grid clean energy:
taking on big energy and succeeding
A study from Citigroup investment bank shows
large energy retailers in the UK (‘the big 6’) are
set to lose £500m per year in revenues to smaller
clean energy providers by 2020, despite an
anticipated 20% increase in the average energy
bill in the country. 31
Pioneers of the collaborative economy are
engineering resource-efficient, flexible, resilient
high-growth business models all over the world.
These entrepreneurial companies are uniquely
structured to deliver the service levels associated
with powerful corporations, whilst offering users the
individuality and creativity of local business owners.
Services ranging from car sharing to ride sharing
and from product re-use to event management,
are radically changing perception of consumption
and ownership. The secret to their success lies in
the fact that the Peers Incorporated models use
connective technologies to foster mutuality, or
people-power, enabling people to consume more
efficiently, paying for what they need or use. Since
user recommendation – and trust – lies at the core of
marketing and revenue growth, service providers and
consumers have a shared interest in ensuring these
businesses live up to their promises transparently.
In both fast-growth developing economies, as well
as those demonstrating slow and often jobless
growth, people-powered Peers businesses are not
only sustainable and resource-friendly but they also
help to save money and often fill an un-met need
for employment. For example in the USA, 20% of
emissions come from driving personal cars and car
ownership costs 14-18% of personal income.
Each ZipCar replaces 15 personal cars in urban
areas and each renter drives 80% less than when
they owned their own cars. Twelve years after
founding ZipCar – which made sharing normal –
its founder Robin Chase is creating a global platform,
Peers Incorporated, help ensure co-operative
opportunities to let Peer businesses scale their
models. A few examples of industrial strength
Peers companies include: 32
Carpooling.com is 10 years old, has 3.5 million
members and 1 million people using the service
every month
Fivrr.com connects people who’d do a particular task
for $5 with those who need the tasks to be done
Topcoder.com is a platform where 400,000 engineers
complete complex design and engineering projects
and has awarded $66 million to date
Etsy.com is a 10 year old online marketplace for
handmade or vintage products that last year delivered
over $1.5 billion of sales to its maker community
“When combined with declining demand
and lower margins the total profit pool
available to the large energy suppliers
could fall by about 40% from about
£1.2bn in 2013 to just £700m”.
Smaller UK firms offering 100% renewable
energy, including Good Energy and Ecotricity,
are picking up the customers leaving the ‘big 6’,
growing not only their revenues, but also setting
new high benchmarks for customer satisfaction
and trust.
the business case: new business
thebusinesscase

Demand for Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEVs) is
growing rapidly, brought about by a combination of
cost, brand appeal and local authority incentives.
Even in gas-guzzling USA almost 250,000 EVs are
sold each year. Worldwide sales of EVs doubled
between 2011 and 2012. The goal is 20 million
electric vehicles on the road by 2020.
Tesla and BMW have aided consumer market appeal
for EVs by demonstrating through their products that
it is possible to have a zero emissions luxury city or
performance car
Nissan reports its Leaf customers give the vehicles
a 93% satisfaction rate, showing the opportunity for
customer loyalty, unseen in traditional vehicles
Toyota, already a global success story with its hybrid
Prius (the biggest selling car in California) is betting
on zero emissions hydrogen fuel-cell technology
with its latest release, the Mirai. The fuel-cell can
reportedly power an average house for a week in
case of a crisis
Toyota is not alone: Honda, Hyundai are working on
ZEVs and a joint project from Renault, Daimler, Ford
and Nissan is also in the works 33
The challenge of infrastructure for fuel cell charging
will need to be overcome for mainstream success
of hydrogen fuel cell cars, relying on government
cooperation. California is offering $50m in grants 34
for construction of fuelling stations
Other regions and cities can be expected to follow
suit. The City of London just completed public
consultation for a proposed Ultra Low Emissions
Zone in the city, to be in place by 2020. This is
intended to improve air quality, reduce emissions
from road transport and stimulate the low emissions
vehicle market 35
British Telecom (BT): technology forging low
carbon consumption behaviour
10-15 years ago, BT was, like many heavy
weight fixed line incumbents, straining to retain
retail customers in the face of a changing
telecommunications landscape, with challengers
to every service it offered. Today it is a highly
diversified global company and at the heart of the
business is their Net Good strategy (case study on
page 40). In addition to renewables investments for
their own energy consumption (operations accounts
for 5% of total CO2
emissions) and ongoing work to
reduce supply chain carbon impacts, as of 2013/14,
the total carbon emissions created by BT roughly
equalled the emissions their products and services
helped customers to avoid, making the company ‘net
zero’ already. BT aims to go further, using circular
economy thinking. By 2020 their aim is to help
customers reduce their emissions by at least three
times the end-to-end carbon impact of the business.
They see the new services they develop to reduce
end-consumer emissions as a major area of growth
over the coming years.
Siemens AG: Industrial scale carbon reductions
changing heavy industry
Siemens is a forerunner in supplying heavy
industry, the energy sector, health care sector
and infrastructure customers with products and
services that scale carbon reductions. In 2014 the
company’s Environmental portfolio generated 46%
of total reported revenues (b33m) and helped their
customers reduce annual CO2
emissions by around
428 million tons according to the company’s own
audited calculations 36. This is close to the total
UK annual CO2
emissions to Q2 2014 37.
Products like the ‘world’s biggest dump truck’
produced by a Siemens customer in Belarus, with
Siemens engine technology, can transport more than
500 metric tons of material — equivalent to seven
fully fueled and loaded Airbus A320-200 planes
– and is driven by four 1,200 kW electric motors
from Siemens. Making changes to how industry runs
of this scale can’t be underestimated.
[Note: Siemens do not report long-term or short-term carbon reduction targets
and are therefore not able to be listed in the later sections showing leaders
committed to net zero targets]
Zero carbon automotive:
From niche to mainstream, loved by their drivers
Embracing net zero through the value-chain
drives innovation for long-term value
There are many more exciting stories of
companies creating the low carbon revolution
as a core business growth strategy.
Companies like Philips and Silver Spring Networks
are lighting up the transition to smart cities,
by changing from a product to a service model,
selling increments of light instead of poles and
bulbs. Low-energy lighting solutions in turn make
city life safe with low or no carbon emissions
and provide infrastructure that can be used for
other intelligent networks.
Telling all of these stories could make for a very
lengthy report. For now, this synthesis is designed
to showcase the momentum of frontrunners who
have placed the net zero pathway at the heart of
commercial strategy – and are winning.
The built environment is one of the areas where
economists see the highest potential and the
greatest need for transition. The building sector
has been transforming itself through collaboration
and innovation that is benefitting all of the
stakeholder firms in the sector.
the business case: automotives / net zero value-chain
thebusinesscase

Leaders in the building sector are striving
for net zero built environments
Cities will host 6.4 billion inhabitants by 2050 –
70% of the 9 billion projected global population 38.
Today cities are home to half the world’s population,
generate 80% of global economic output, creating
70% of energy-related GHG emissions 39.
In the next 15 years $300-400 trillion is likely
to be invested in the global economy, of which
around $90 trillion is likely to be invested in
infrastructure across cities, land use and energy
systems where emissions will be concentrated 40.
In developed countries, buildings account for
greater carbon emissions than transportation or
industry. In 2010 buildings were responsible for
nearly half (44.6%) of U.S. CO2
emissions.
By comparison, transportation accounted for
34.3% of CO2
emissions and industry 21.1% 41.
Most population growth leading to 2050 is likely
to occur in emerging Asia and China 42, where
it will be essential to build compact, live-able,
transport efficient cities, to stimulate economic
performance and reduce GHG emissions.
Around 80 million square metres of new building
stock are likely to be built by 2050 43.
Since building stock lasts 80 years+ the design
decisions made in the next 15 years are critical.
It is in this built environment context that some
of the most exciting, far-reaching leadership
is emerging from a new group of companies
and organisations.
One of many examples of how the building sector is profiting from
reaching for the net zero goal lies in one of the world’s oldest and most
iconic skyscrapers, the Empire State Building, demonstrating that many
buildings – new and old – are already transitioning work and living
standards to meet the needs of a low carbon economy.
International Union of Architects:
2050 Imperative
At its tri-annual global meeting, the International Union of Architects
(UIA) adopted the “2050 Imperative” in August 2014. This means
that every national or regional member association (globally more than
1.3 million architects) has committed to a ‘net zero’ imperative so that
all new builds and refurbishments will meet the design specifictions
required to be carbon neutral by 2050.
The UIA reaches all of the world's professional
architecture bodies, as well as many organisations
involved in town planning and building sector
and construction specification
Well-coordinated guidelines are being rolled out to
all firms suggesting specific ‘codes’ to be adopted
Since architects and planners also specify materials,
there is enormous potential to spur market forces in
a range of associated industries, including cement,
the largest major emissions source after fossil fuels.
Skanska, the Nordic construction sector company, has its North
American headquarters in the Empire State Building.
Working with the building owner and partners, Skanska undertook a
complete retrofit of the building, meeting LEED Platinum standards
It is a beacon for the energy savings achievable with older buildings
Skanska, just one of many tenants to realise the savings in social
and financial terms, has measured the co-benefits of the consequent
energy reduction:
Attractive net benefit returns in energy cost savings
Improved health outcomes (sick leave reduced by 15-18%)
Improved employee productivity
The Track 0 Spring 2015 Briefing on the Built Environment will showcase
more of the momentum and businesses leading the drive for low-carbon cities,
offering sustainable lifestyles and commercial opportunities.
MAKING ZERO CARBON
LIVING A REALITY The buildings sector:
showing the way
and reaping benefits
Architecture 2030
The Empire State Building and Skanska
In 2006 Architecture 2030 issued its
“2030 Challenge” asking the global
architecture and building communities
to adopt a range of easily
understandable targets for new buildings
and refurbishments to ensure every new
project was carbon neutral by 2030.
This has impacted on the design
decisions of hundreds of projects, and
the quality of life of countless people
in developed cities. But it also began
to re-shape the way the design and
building community were thinking
about spaces for living and working.
making zero carbon living a reality
zerocarbonliving

“The We Mean Business coalition urges policymakers
to establish a net zero emissions target well before
the end of the century. Doing so will help businesses
unleash low-carbon innovation, invest in clean energy,
create jobs and secure economic growth.”
the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group 44
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) 45
The timeline supported by science for
achieving net zero emissions is before
the end of the century.
Energy systems must be holistically
transformed to meet this goal

Investments to phase
in clean energy
Disincentives for fossil
fuel powered energy
A robust carbon price
Fossil fuels to be phased
out, subsidies removed
Removing cheap coal is a least-cost,
high emissions reductions option that
is feasible and beneficial.
WBCSD is a CEO led organisation
of 200 global companies.
It advocates for the ‘net zero’
long-term goal to accelerate
growth with equity.
WBCSD’s ‘net zero’ perspective on
the 2015 Climate Change Agreement
says its members agree to
Keep global temperature
increase below 2ºC,
Promote peaking global emissions
by 2020
Limit cumulative net emissions
to a trillion tonnes of carbon
Fulfil development needs
build climate resilience
“A global commitment to phase out global net emissions by
the end of this century and concerted efforts towards a global
carbon price to change the rules of the game and provide impetus
to a global rewiring in favour of low carbon investment.”
Influential business coalitions are promoting the long-term goal for
net zero emissions to direct decisions compatible with 2ºC pathways
We Mean Business 46
The B Team 47
We Mean Business is a coalition of organizations working with
thousands of the world’s most influential businesses and investors.
These businesses recognize that the transition to a low carbon economy
is the only way to secure sustainable economic growth and prosperity
for all. To accelerate this transition, We Mean Business is a common
platform to amplify the business voice, catalyse bold climate action
by all, and promote smart policy frameworks.
Sir Richard Branson
Kathy Calvin
Arianna Huffington
Mo Ibrahim
Guilherme Leal
Strive Masiyiwa
Blake Mycoskie
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
François-Henri Pinault
Paul Polman
Ratan Tata
Zhang Yue
Professor Muhammad Yunus
Jochen Zeitz
“The B Team believes the transition to a ‘net-zero’ emissions
economy is an historic opportunity that, if managed responsibly,
fairly and collaboratively, will bring economic benefits to
countries at all levels of income, including new jobs, cleaner
air, better health, lower poverty and greater energy security.
We Mean Business partners includes the following leading
business coalitions and organisations:
The Prince of Wales's Corporate Leaders Group
World Business Council For Sustainable Development
The Climate Group
The B Team
CDP
Ceres
BSR
The Trillion Tonne Communiqué is a global call to arms from businesses
that take the science of climate change seriously. It states:
influential business coalitions promote net zero
promotenetzero

Energy Iberdrola
CLP Holdings Limited
Consumer
Goods L’Oréal
Nestlé  
Tiger Brands 
Unilever
Royal Philips 
Retail  HM
Marks Spencer
Group  plc
Pick ‘n Pay Stores Ltd  
ICT Konica Minolta, Inc.
Koninklijke KPN NV
(Royal KPN)
  Ricoh Co., Ltd.
Wipro
Automotive Honda Motor
Company
Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.
Industrial Philips
Publishing Reed Elsevier Group
Financial
Services AXA Group
Commerzbank AG  
Principal Financial
Group Inc
J. Safra Sarasin
T.Sinai Kalkinma
Bankasi

Construction Morgan Sindall
Group plc
Biotech AG BT Group
Food Services Sodexo
Communications Dentsu Inc
Travel TUI Travel
Tobacco Philip Morris
International
Consumer
Goods Mars
Nestle
ICT BT Group
SAP
KPN
Publishing Reed Elsevier
Industrial Philips
Financial
Services Commerzbank
J. Safra Sarasin
Certification
Verification SGS
Fashion Retail HM
Yoox
Motorsport /
Entertainment Formula E
Large companies from many sectors around the world are already
showing they intend to remain leaders for the long term by decoupling
their growth strategies from carbon. This synthesis shows a number
of visionary companies on the pathway to the low-carbon economy,
incorporating a long-term target into their short-term strategies.
It is encouraging to see the momentum coming from companies
in Energy, ICT, Retail, Consumer Goods, Financial Services, Automotive
and more, delivering what is needed for a low carbon future.
Note: some companies are mentioned more than once based on stated commitment
Companies committing to net zero
Momentum from leaders in diverse industries
Energy E.on
NRG
Verbund
Consumer
Goods Colgate-Palmolive
Kering
Kirin Holdings
Mars
Natura
Retail Ikea
Marks Spencer
Walmart
ICT Amazon Web Services
Apple Corporation
BT Group
Konica Minolta
KPN
Automotive Nissan
Financial
Services Goldman Sachs
Swiss Re
Certification
Verification SGS
Motorsport /
Entertainment Formula E
Leading companies committed to net zero emissions or carbon
neutral strategies with a stated 2050-2100 (or earlier) target
(See a selection of case studies starting on page 40)
Leading companies transitioning to power their
businesses by 100% renewable energy by 2020 48
Companies stating commitment to limit global warming to 2ºC 49
companies committing to net zero
committingtozero

38 The Business Case for Adopting the Long-Term Goal for Net zero Emissions 39companies committing to net zero: energy / consumer goods
committingtozero
Showcase: Stories from companies driving
growth through embedded net zero targets
Colgate-Palmolive 52
The Colgate-Palmolive Company operates in 200
countries and has annual sales of $17.4 billion.
With a proud history of sustainable commitments to
people and planet, the company has strengthened
its commitment to a range of measures across
resource use, packaging, ingredients and health.
In 2014 the company stated its commitment to
addressing climate change by shifting its goals from
a 2015/2020 strategy to a long-term 2050 goal:
“We are pleased to announce our commitment to
reduce carbon emissions on an absolute basis by 25%
compared to 2002, with a longer-term goal of a 50
percent absolute reduction by 2050 compared with
2002. These goals are in line with the CDP and World
Wildlife Fund report – the 3% Solution – and will
allow us to play our part in limiting global warming
to 2ºC, as recommended by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change.”
Mars 53
“We will make our operations ‘Sustainable in a
Generation’ by eliminating fossil fuel energy use and
greenhouse gas emissions, minimizing our impact
on water quality and availability, and mitigating the
impacts of waste by 2040.”
The maker of some of the world’s favourite
confectionary brands announced its “Sustainable-in-
a-Generation” (SIG) program earlier in 2014, saying,
“Our targets are based on science and reflect our
belief that we must play a role in mitigating the worst
consequences of climate change. For comparison,
our greenhouse gas reduction goals are more
challenging than the most ambitious local, regional
or national targets.”
The company’s targets for 2015, using 2007
as their baseline year, are to:
Reduce fossil-fuel energy, greenhouse gas emissions
and water use by 25%
Send zero waste to landfill
Kirin Holdings 54
Kirin Holdings is a Japanese company with
over 41,000 employees and 257 consolidated
subsidiaries, conducting business in alcoholic and
non-alcoholic beverages, and associated products
globally. It is also the only Consumer Staples
category company on the CDP Climate Performance
Leaders Index 2014 A List that has a stated goal
for carbon reduction beyond 2020. As part of a
comprehensive environmental sustainability package,
Kirin’s leadership has committed the company to:
“Keep CO2 emissions across our value chain within
the Earth’s capacity to absorb them by 2050.”
The company is a frontrunner with strategies
grounded in science for its overall global emissions.
This forward-looking approach enables Kirin to
incorporate medium and long-term goals in
deciding actions.
“In August 2009, the Kirin Group formulated Action
Plans for Becoming a Low-Carbon Corporate Group,
and has since been taking initiatives to achieve its
medium-term target for reducing CO2 emissions
directly associated with its businesses, as well
as its long-term target of cutting CO2 emissions
throughout the value chain, ranging from RD
to disposal and recycling, to half the levels in 1990
by 2050.”
Unilever 55
Unilever in partnership with US power firm NRG
Energy aims to use100% renewable energy by
2020 in all of its US sites, aligned with the global
Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, which aims to
double the size of its business whilst reducing
its footprint by half.
Kees Kruythoff, President at Unilever
North America said:
“This transformational partnership with NRG to move
all of our US operations to 100% renewable energy
will make our business more resilient, sustainable
and profitable. It is our hope and expectation that
our collaboration with NRG will also inspire a broader
acceleration and uptake of renewable energy
technologies.”
Kering 50
Kering is a group comprising 22 Luxury and Sport
Lifestyle brands, with 35,000 employees globally and
revenues of b9.7 billion. Kering’s 2016 Sustainability
Targets include reducing carbon emissions resulting
from the production of products and services by 25%
from a 2012 baseline, as well as ensuring deforestation
is not a factor in its supply chains whereby 100% of
leather in products do not result in converting sensitive
ecosystems into grazing lands or agricultural lands
for food production for livestock.The company takes
a holistic view on cutting carbon emissions as a key
driver of a highly progressive sustainability strategy
built on four pillars, encompassing both mitigation
and resilience. These four pillars are seen as business
critical, in order to 'future-proof' the company:
EPL: that measures, monitors and highlights
“climate change” footprint in a very sophisticated way.
Measuring and understanding the Group’s full footprint
associated with carbon emissions, water consumption
and pollution, waste, air pollution and land use across
the supply chain and down to the raw materials
underpins Kering’s overall strategy.
To do so, Kering developed the Environmental Profit
and Loss account (E PL), which is an innovative
solution enabling business decisions to be responsive
to climate change challenges in the supply chain, thus
serving as a catalyst to develop a more sustainable
business model for the Group. Through the E PL
analysis, Kering identifies the “hotspots” in its supply
chains and is able to strategically target the reduction
of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions to become
more energy efficient throughout the manufacturing
processes, as well as working with suppliers to support
sustainable sourcing - such as leather sourcing for
its brands - and production systems, and
implementing new technologies.
Commitment to sustainable sourcing of raw
materials – supporting agricultural approaches that
are “climate friendly and/or climate resilient” through
improved agricultural practices (grazing as well as
fibre production), promotion of new varieties of fibres,
ensuring no conversion of natural ecosystems and more
Carbon offsets for all remaining Scope 1 and Scope
2 emissions annually is done through REDD+ projects.
These projects help Kering mitigate its carbon
emissions, while investing in green infrastructure
beyond Kering’s immediate supply chains and
ecosystems and ultimately helps the Group become
more resilient to climate change in the future.
Focus on communities and women. Kering looks at
its impacts on local communities and women through
the supply chain, particularly where raw materials are
sourced, and seeks opportunities for building resilience,
such as supporting and promoting organic cotton,
sustainable silk production and certified gold
Natura 51
Ranked the second most sustainable company on
the planet in 2012 and 2013 by Corporate Knights
and also a certified B-Corporation, Natura is the
top cosmetics company in Brazil with revenues of
$3.15 billion. Natura's competitive difference is the
development of products based on the biodiversity
of indigenous flora, sustainably sourced from the
Amazon. Their sourcing programme is backed
by the company's $500 million investment in
the region to ensure its impacts are sustainable.
This competitive difference led to Natura's 2007
commitment to become carbon neutral, in order to
retain its market position. Natura's commitment
to carbon neutrality forced a re-assessment of
the company's entire value chain from ingredient
sourcing through to post consumption waste.
300 opportunities were identified for emissions
reductions through the value chain and between
2007 and 2013 tackling these led to the company
slashing GHG emissions by 33%. Work is currently
underway to seek a further 33% of GHG emissions
cuts by 2020, putting Natura on track for its
commitment to be Planet Positive by 2040.
Consumer goods

40 The Business Case for Adopting the Long-Term Goal for Net zero Emissions 41companies committing to net zero: retail / automotive / financial services
committingtozero
British Telecom (BT) 58
BT is a diverse telecommunications company
employing 87,800 people with presence in 170
markets. Through its comprehensive integration
of carbon and emissions reductions across the
business’s Net Good programme, the company is
a beacon to other technology companies. As of
2013/14, the total carbon emissions created by BT
roughly equalled the emissions their products and
services helped customers to avoid. The company
aims to go further though, stating: “By 2020, our
goal is to help customers reduce carbon emissions
by at least three times the end-to-end carbon impact
of our business”
Currently their end-to-end emissions comprise:
supply chain (66% of total emissions)
own operations (5% of total emissions)
and customer product consumption
(29% of total emissions)
Innovative products and services offerings
substantially change consumer behaviour. In
2013/14 BT had 15 ways their products and
services helped customers to avoid carbon
emissions, including flexible working, cloud services,
and field force automation. They see this as a major
area of growth over the coming years as connected
technologies that help climate action rapidly
increase in scope and scale.
BT is cutting carbon from its own operations through
a number of initiatives including:
Incentivised staff education and schemes for energy
saving, with 78% of employees participating so far
Purchasing 100% renewable electricity within
the UK and making direct investments in large
wind farms
BT also incentivises its suppliers’ emissions
reductions through:
Procurement practices that actively favour the
largest reducers in carbon, waste and resource
impacts
Supplier education on carbon, waste and recycling
best practices
Apple Corporation 56
The iconic company is amongst a sleuth of tech
giants racing for a low emissions future. Apple has
been significantly slower than Google or Microsoft
in committing to and achieving carbon neutrality
(both of which have long held carbon neutral goals).
Whilst there are still significant measures underway
on reducing emissions associated with its products,
according to the 2014 Sustainability Report, its
services business is already run entirely on clean
energy.
“All our data centres are powered by 100 per cent
renewable energy sources, which result in zero
greenhouse gas emissions, and we’re committed to
keeping it that way. These energy sources include
solar, wind and geothermal power. This renewable
energy comes from both onsite sources and energy
obtained from local resources. The data centres
run services like Siri, the iTunes Store, the App
Store, Maps and iMessage. So every time a song is
downloaded from iTunes, an app is installed from the
Mac App Store or a book is downloaded from iBooks,
the energy Apple uses is provided by nature.”
Amazon Web Services 57
Amazon web services power some of the most
viewed websites in the western world, including
Netflix, Spotify and Pinterest. The company
has been notoriously lagging in its approach to
embedding sustainability in its business, but this
trend is turning. A recent Greenpeace report showed
Amazon Web Services division behind Google and
Facebook, with only 15% renewable energy use.
Amazon Web Services has now embraced ambition
for energy transformation, stating in November
2014:
“In addition to the environmental benefits inherently
associated with running applications in the cloud,
AWS has a long-term commitment to achieve
100% renewable energy usage for our global
infrastructure footprint.”
ICT Konica Minolta 59
Konica Minolta is a leading Information Technology
products and services company, headquartered
in Japan. ICT is a driving force to change how the
world does business, yet it’s also vulnerable to high
cost climate related weather events, such as the
2011 floods in Thailand, which heavily impact the
bottom line of many IT firms. Konica Minolta is the
only IT company reporting a 2050 reduction target
in the CDP 2014 Leaders Index. Its competitors
largely set reduction targets only to 2020.
The firm aims to reduce all GHG emissions from the
total lifecycle (including consumption) by 80% by
2050 from a 2005 baseline.
“We will continuously reduce greenhouse gas
emissions that derive from our business activities
from the perspective of the life cycle of our
products and services throughout the entire Group,
recognizing that global warming is one of the most
important world issues.”
E.on 60
In the most radical announcement from an energy
company, German energy giant, E.On announced
on 30 November 2014 that it will place it’s
‘conventional’ coal, gas and nuclear generation
business into a separate entity which it will spin
off in 2016, leaving the company to focus on its
renewables business, alongside its wholesale and
retail customer assets.
“We are convinced that it’s necessary to respond to
dramatically altered global energy markets, technical
innovation, and more diverse customer expectations
with a bold new beginning. E.On’s existing broad
business model can no longer properly address
these new challenges. Therefore, we want to set up
our business significantly different. E.On will tap the
growth potential created by the transformation of
the energy world. Alongside it we’re going to create
a solid, independent company that will safeguard
security of supply for the transformation. These two
missions are so fundamentally different that two
separate, distinctly focused companies offer the best
prospects for the future,” E.On SE CEO Johannes
Teyssen said.
E.On is promoting the decision as one that will
make the company more agile, secure jobs, provide
transparency to investors and regulators and
especially, give it a focus on the future that will
benefit its commitment to customer focus.
Energy
Verbund 61
Austria’s largest electricity supplier, Verbund, owns
and operates multiple hydroelectric schemes.
The company has a stated plan in action that puts it
in place to achieve 100% absolute carbon emissions
reductions by 2050, to provide a completely carbon
neutral energy supply to its customers.
NRG 62
NRG’s chief executive, David Crane, announced the
company’s new sustainability goals on 20 November
2014, including radical measures to slash its CO2
by 50% by 2030, and 90% by 2050.
NRG owns and operates of one of the largest fleets
of fossil fuel power plants in the United States.
A 2014 report from the Natural Resources Defense
Council ranked NRG as the seventh-largest coal
generation company in the U.S. and the fourth-
largest CO2
emitter in the U.S. electric power sector.
Leah Seligmann, the company’s chief sustainability
officer told media.
“The goals we are setting today are really NRG’s
attempt to chart the path to the low-carbon future.
We needed to dramatically cut carbon over the course
of the 35-year period if we were going to be in line
with what scientists are calling for in order to deal
with climate change.”

42 The Business Case for Adopting the Long-Term Goal for Net zero Emissions 43companies committing to net zero: ICT
committingtozero
Financial Services
Goldman Sachs 67
The global financial services giant with a market
capitalization of over $82 billion, is a major
employer, operates offices and data centres
on 5 continents. The firm set an ambitious goal
of reaching zero carbon emissions in all
operations by 2020.
“To achieve our aggressive goal of being carbon zero
across all global facilities (offices and data centers)
by 2020 we consistently deploy our global Carbon
Reduction Framework, which challenges us to design,
construct and operate our facilities and technology
as efficiently as possible, and secondarily, enables us
to purchase high quality certified carbon offsets and
green power that supports the growth of renewable
energy markets where we operate.
In 2013 we further reduced our entire global facilities
footprint another 7 percent utilizing our Carbon
Reduction Framework. Notably, we reversed a
several year trend in data center emissions growth
by achieving a 7 percent reduction across our owned
and co-located data center footprint.
We are committed to furthering the reduction of our
net emissions each year as we approach our final
goal of achieving zero operational carbon emissions
by 2020.”
Swiss Re 68
Global re-insurance giant, Swiss Re, is another
frontrunner in committing to and achieving carbon
neutrality, a goal the company met in 2013.
“Becoming CO2-neutral is an ongoing journey which
we started in 2003. The process involves three steps:
make our operations as energy efficient as possible;
source as much energy as possible from renewable
sources; and buy certificates to offset unavoidable
CO2 emissions. When the Programme reached its
official end in 2013, it was considered a resounding
success. We had met the original 15% per employee
reduction target in 2007, and later raised - and met -
higher goals twice in two years. By the end of 2013,
we had achieved a total reduction in CO ₂ emissions
per employee of 56.5% compared to 2003.”
Swiss Re is now going further, making substantial
investments in new renewable energy projects in
order to become CO2
positive. The company aims
to power its energy needs through 100% renewable
sources by 2020 . Since the firm is responsible for
helping hundreds of communities around the world
recover from climate impacts already, this sends
a strong signal to business across the board.
Swiss Re supports employees by subsidising their
individual low-carbon investments, such as public
transport passes, low-emission hybrid cars, and
solar panels or heat pumps at employees’ homes.
Nissan 66
“A new era is beginning in the global
automotive industry. At Nissan and Renault,
we are working together to lead the way
to mass-market zero-emission mobility.”
Carlos Ghosn, President CEO,
Nissan Motor Corporation
Nissan is one of the leading global corporations in
EV automotive at scale, whilst retaining a strong
position in traditional automotive globally. Nissan
has bold commitments to meet the long-term goal
for net zero emissions:
Reducing 80% of carbon emissions from operations
by 2050 (2005 baseline)
And a 90% reduction in CO2 from new vehicles
by 2050.
Nissan is investing in a portfolio of “green”
technologies, including clean diesels, efficient
internal-combustion engines, hybrids and the
centerpiece of our product strategy: zero-emission
vehicles, such as electric cars and fuel cell vehicles.
The key driver of Nissan’s passion is captured in the
word “zero” they are preparing a lineup of cars that
will be totally neutral to the environment, beginning
with the electric car. With zero carbon-dioxide
emissions and zero particles, Nissan aims to ensure
their electric car will be the most environmentally
friendly mass-produced car on the market.
Through the Renault-Nissan Alliance, we are bringing
more than just a new car. Creating a zero-emission
society will involve mass production, supplying
thousands of cars to markets around the world.
Collaboration with countries, local governments,
electricity providers and many other specialists will be
required to help develop the necessary infrastructure
and to make the whole system work.
automotive
Ikea 63
The retailer renowned for low-cost furnishings and
homewares aims to be carbon neutral by 2020,
powering itself through 100% clean renewable energy.
The IKEA Group stated mission is, “We want to have
a positive impact on the environment, which is why by
2020 we’re going to be 100% renewable – producing
as much renewable energy as we consume using
renewable sources, such as the wind and sun. We’re
also making our buildings more efficient, so we need
less energy to run them.”
Marks Spencer 64
Noted for its holistic approach to sustainability
and ambitious stance with its launch of Plan A
in 2007, Marks Spencer is the first retailer to
become carbon neutral, through a range of carbon
cutting measures in its own operations and supply
chain. Marks Spencer also has a rigorous process
for evaluating offset investments to ensure each is
creating additional 100% renewable energy that
would not otherwise be captured.
“From April 2013 we extended carbon neutrality to
include all MS operated and joint venture stores,
offices, warehouses and delivery fleets worldwide.”
Walmart 65
One of the world’s largest listed retail companies
is also demonstrating ambition with regard to the
energy transformation of its operations across the
globe, framing its initiatives in the context of more
efficient, predictable operational costs and its
commitment to customers: “save people money
so they can live better”. Walmart’s commitments
include: “We expect to further de-link GHG emissions
from business growth. These two commitments –
to accelerate efficiency and scale renewables –
allow us to predict that by 2020 we expect to see
an absolute decrease in GHG emissions from
the company’s largest GHG source – energy
to power buildings – compared to our 2010
baseline. Combined, our efficiency and renewables
commitments are expected to cap our use of
non-renewable electricity at 2010 levels, a critical first
step on the path to 100 percent renewable energy.”
RETAIL
Science-based targets aim to avoid these irreversible and catastrophic
climate change effects by keeping temperature rise below a 2°C
increase. Companies can demonstrate their robust commitments
to reduce emissions and help mitigate global warming to investors
and clients through the Mind The Gap initiative, which is currently
developing a methodology.
Companies using Science based targets
to set short-medium term GHG reduction goals 69

The Business Case for adopTing The Long-Term goaL for neT zero emissions

The Business Case for adopTing The Long-Term goaL for neT zero emissions

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