Some major apparel and digital technology companies will set goals to cut their greenhouse emissions based on climate science, they announced today.
Brand-name businesses—including clothing companies Nike Inc., Gap Inc., Guess and Levi Strauss & Co., and tech firms Adobe Systems, Nokia Corp. and HP Inc.—are setting the goals as part of a partnership launched by the United Nations and environmental groups.
The initiative, Science Based Targets, prods companies to establish plans to slash heat-trapping gases from their operations to help stave off devastating global warming. It says more than 300 businesses have committed to the program, including 50 U.S. companies.
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After joining, a company has two years to develop its targets, which Science Based Targets experts review. The group has approved 71 targets, including 41 this year, it said.
"This is becoming the new 'normal' in the business world, proving that a low-carbon economy is not only vital for consumers and the planet, but also for future-proofing growth," Lila Karbassi of the U.N. Global Compact said in a statement.
Today's announcement comes on the first day of Climate Week, a summit that will run through Sunday in New York City, where government and private-sector leaders will converge to talk about the warming planet and what to do about it.
Gary Cohn, the top White House economic adviser, is expected to lead the U.S. delegation in a climate discussion at the U.N. talks in New York this week (Climatewire, Sept. 13).
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from E&E News. E&E provides daily coverage of essential energy and environmental news at www.eenews.net.