Objective: To establish meaningful benchmarks on climate action for global leaders in key sectors, and to support their leadership as they seek to accelerate corporate responses to this urgent issue at the highest levels. The Climate Group will also ensure that leaders are rewarded for taking action, and we will use their examples to inspire and encourage others.

Commitment: The Climate Group commits to recruiting an additional 25 corporate members and to engaging with an additional 50 by the end of 2008 (i.e., over a 24 month period). The Climate Group will achieve these goals through its tiered membership structure and support systems, which will allow each corporation to define and achieve measurable goals, including emission reduction goals.

Background: The Climate Group’s commitment is grounded in a strong global network of collaborating members and activities. The Climate Group was founded in late 2004 by a coalition of business and government leaders that includes the leaders of BP and HSBC (the world’s second largest bank). Its core coalition quickly grew to include the following:

1. Governments and governmental bodies: UK government, German government
2. US local governments: California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York
3. Canadian Provinces: Manitoba, Ontario
4. Other governmental bodies: Greater London Authority, State Government of Victoria (Australia)
5. Corporations: ABN Amro, Alcan Inc, Allianz Group, Austin Energy, Baker and Mackenzie, BP, BSkyB, British Telecom, Catalyst, Cheyne Capital Management, HSBC Holdings Plc, Interface, Johnson & Johnson, Munich Re Group, Starbucks, Timberland, Severn Trent, and Swiss Re.

The Climate Group also convenes and supports leadership groups that engage corporations in sector-specific “working groups”. These leadership groups allow senior managers and executives to explore key climate change issues such as GHG emissions reporting, investment practices, and consumer attitudes.

Partnership Opportunity: All of The Climate Group’s relationships with corporate members are collaborative. First and foremost, we welcome queries from corporate leaders seeking to join or form leadership groups or to consider becoming members. The Climate Group also welcomes partnerships with organizations that have similar goals and programs. We currently collaborate with the World Resources Institute, for example, in convening the European arm of the Green Power Market Development Group. Among the many groups with whom we partner closely are CERES (with whom we chiefly collaborate on working with the US insurance industry), and the International Emissions Trading Association and the World Economic Forum (with whom we partner on our voluntary carbon offset standard). As we deepen our work in specific sectors we anticipate further collaboration with industry-specific associations as well as NGOs.

Update:
June 2006:
Climate Group Leadership Groups are now active in the areas of Consumer Facing Brands / Retail, Finance, Green Power Market Development (in collaboration with World Resources Institute), and Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

In addition, a new leadership group in Insurance is being formed within the US insurance and reinsurance industries. Activity in the insurance sector recently received an extra boost when the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in the US voted to form an executive task force on climate change. The Climate Group, along with CERES, was strongly instrumental in the decision to form this task force.

Going forward, and as part of this commitment, The Climate Group will work with a growing circle of leading corporations to define and achieve reduction benchmarks that are appropriate for sectors and for individual corporations. The Climate Group will support this coalition with new corporate engagement programs in Europe (notably Germany), India, China/Hong Kong, and Japan.