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A leader in fuel cell solutions, Plug Power recently announced it will build the largest green hydrogen production plant on the West Coast. The state-of-the-art production facility in Fresno County in the Central Valley of California will be powered by renewable energy. Once completed, it will produce 30 metric tons of green hydrogen daily and serve customers up and down the West Coast.

The project also includes the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility that will supply the water needed by the plant and provide recycled water to Mendota, an increasingly water-stressed agricultural hub in Fresno County. 

The California facility will expand Plug Power’s network of plants that already includes sites in New York, Tennessee and Georgia. Combined, they will supply 500 tons of liquid green hydrogen daily by 2025, preventing 4.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere.

What is green hydrogen?

At the California plant, Plug Power will use electrolyzers to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through the electrolysis of water. Since the system will be powered by a 300-megawatt solar array, the only emissions created will be oxygen.

Although hydrogen itself is a green fuel, it can be associated with large amounts of carbon dioxide emissions in the manufacturing process. Almost all (99.6 percent) of the hydrogen on the market is produced using fossil fuels. For example, brown hydrogen is produced from coal and gray hydrogen from natural gas.

Therefore, not all hydrogen is created equal from a sustainability standpoint. Because hydrogen is very energy-dense, the production process is energy-intensive. Using brown or gray hydrogen is similar to driving an electric vehicle and charging it with electricity generated from coal. Although the car itself would have minimal emissions, it creates a demand for polluting energy sources.

Is green hydrogen cost-competitive?

“When fully built, the network of plants in the U.S. will offer transportation fuel to customers that is price-competitive with diesel," Plug Power claims in a press statement. "In addition, Plug Power’s investment in green hydrogen production will contribute to decarbonizing light-duty vehicles, freight-transportation, and logistics operations, and supports California’s leading role in developing hydrogen as a zero-emission fuel.”

Research firm Wood McKenzie expects green hydrogen prices to fall by 64 percent by 2040. Currently, China and the United States account for 21 percent and 19 percent of global demand. However, one obstacle to large-scale adoption is the current lack of infrastructure, including fueling stations and pipelines. Removing these obstacles would make green hydrogen more cost-effective.

Some of this could change with the new infrastructure bill making its way through Congress and a potential extension of the investment tax credit (an incentive for wind and solar energy). Nevertheless, the falling cost of solar and wind energy is excellent news for the green hydrogen market.

Why is green hydrogen so appealing?

Green hydrogen presents opportunities to lower carbon emissions from specific sectors that are especially polluting, such as the chemical, iron, steel and long-haul transportation sectors.

Many delivery fleets, including at DHL, Amazon, UPS, FedEx, Walmart and the U.S. Postal Service, are starting to electrify. But some of the logistics around batteries are challenging for long-haul trucking, freight shipping and air travel. Transporting heavy batteries is inefficient and takes up space, and refueling can be time consuming. By contrast, hydrogen is energy-dense, thus it is space efficient and offers quick refueling. 

The Plug Power announcement signals the green hydrogen market is advancing. Pending required permits, the company expects to break ground in early 2023 and begin production in early 2024. Lee Ann Eager, president and CEO of the Fresno County Economic Development Corp., is also counting it as a win for the region, which has some of the poorest year-round air quality in the U.S. and is now choking on smoke from nearby wildfires. 

“Green hydrogen represents the energy of the future, and with this major announcement, Fresno County will soon plant its flag as the strategic center for California’s hydrogen economy,” she said. “This project is poetic justice for our region, which has struggled with persistent poor air quality and will produce the zero-emission fuel needed to support the state’s renewable energy goals.”

Image credit: Tommy Lisbin/Unsplash

This week more than 160 U.S. businesses, including Clif Bar and Numi Tea, joined together in a campaign to lobby their Congressional representatives in favor of strong climate policies and encourage their customers to do the same. Organized by the Climate Collaborative, a coalition of businesses pursuing climate action, the #Call4ClimateNOW campaign looks to combine the influence of brands with the collective power of the public to push ambitious policy forward. 

The effort comes on the heels of the latest assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called a “code red” for humanity.

The past couple of years have seen a significant uptick in corporate climate targets in parallel to government action. The intersection between businesses and policy is complicated, but it does not need to be.

A legacy of protectionist lobbying

Many people have a negative association with companies and climate lobbying. Public statements undermined by political donations raise the concern that some companies are talking out of both sides of their mouths. For example, earlier this year, Royal Dutch Shell, an oil company, released an environmental report touting its investments in renewable energy on the same day it released a report noting that its single largest political contribution was to the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group that has publicly stated it intends to fight the Biden administration’s climate policies. Further, earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representative Oversight Committee called on Exxon, Chevron, BP and Shell to testify about accusations of deliberately misleading the public on climate change.

While the oil companies make big headlines, the political pressure for industry-specific protections is common regardless of the size of the company’s purse. It is also understandable to a certain extent: Businesses need to protect their bottom lines. Just as lobbyists for big oil companies advocate for what they view as their companies’ best interests, so do all lobbyists, including those that advocate for issues such as improved health care and better labor protections.

The difference is that the kind of lobbying that has often been the norm may protect a bottom line but consequently threatens everything else. Setting aside big oil, which has a direct impact on the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, in the past many companies in other sectors have also lobbied against their own long-term interests by a narrow vision of the bottom line. The triple bottom line — the environmental and social costs of operations in addition to the financial — is more important than ever. Consequently, as climate change has intensified, what may have looked like protectionism in the past now looks like heads in the sand. For many companies, the risks to their traditional bottom lines are now greater due to climate change.

Pushing for positive change

The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2021 put climate action failure as the second highest risk for both likelihood and impact (following extreme weather and infectious diseases, respectively). According to analysis by the Washington Post, 1 in 3 Americans live in a county that was affected by extreme weather at some point this summer. As those impacts mount, companies have to consider the physical risks to their operations as well as their employees. From grid failures in Texas to lack of water in the West, companies should consider these factors when determining where to locate and how to run their businesses, beyond just the traditional financial incentives.

The risk also now goes both ways — how operations are impacted by climate change and how a company’s way of doing business impacts the climate. The pressure has been building to get to this point, from both customers and investors. As awareness grows on the issue, so does the push to do something. Not having a climate plan is increasingly seen as a higher risk. Taking that one step further is to examine to what extent a company participates in policy.

For a company to directly lobby for climate policy, especially one that may depress returns in the short term, it is important to factor in the medium- to long-term risks of climate change. It is also in a company’s best longer-term interests to analyze future risks and manage for them by not only supporting certain climate polices, but also participating in their formulation. Pushing back without negotiation only means if a policy is approved, the company has had no say in its crafting.

A few industries have taken that tack, although some have done so grudgingly. Seen in a pragmatic light, companies can design legislation to even the playing field and provide regulatory certainty by working with policymakers. For example, as water resources continued to be stressed by increasing temperatures and other climatic changes, beverage companies like Coca-Cola became interested in policy solutions for strained water supplies, understanding that climate change had a direct impact on their essential operations.

Building cooperation

Companies have often been on the outside of climate policy-making, whether by their own efforts to thwart the process or by distrust from the political players. During the negotiations for the Paris Agreement at the COP21 climate talks in 2015, companies engaged more directly than they had previously in climate policy discussions. In the lead-up to COP21, the U.N. Global Compact, CDP, World Wildlife Fund and World Resources Institute launched the Science-Based Targets Initiative, which provides guidance for setting stringent emissions reduction plans. Since its launch, more than 1,000 companies have joined the initiative.

Corporate lobbying has historically taken the traditional route of campaign donations and corporate protection. More companies are now seeing the benefit of having a seat at the table as a collaborative partner to craft policies that could help their industries meet demands of customers, minimize risk from climate change, and help ensure they are active participants in decelerating its worst impacts. There remains a lot of progress to be made, but the 160 companies that signed up to #Call4ClimateNOW may indicate that companies finally understand what is at stake and what they can do about it.

Image credit: Samuel Schroth and Andy Feliciotti via Unsplash

About 95 percent of the western U.S. is now under drought conditions, and southwestern states — Arizona, Nevada and Utah, as well as parts of California, Colorado and New Mexico — are suffering a “megadrought” that has been building for over 20 years. The megadrought already outstrips the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and is the worst drought in the region in 500 years. According to scientists, this is the first megadrought caused and exacerbated by climate change. Unfortunately, getting back to pre-drought levels would likely require a decade of wet years, which under current climate scenarios is unlikely. 

For people and businesses in the southwest, this means they will need increased emphasis on water conservation and watershed restoration. Luckily, conservation strategies and policies had been ramping up even before the drought lurched into megadrought status over the past few years. In addition to shifting behaviors of consumers — for example, shifting away from water-intensive landscaping —  thirsty businesses will need to reconsider their strategies in the region. To that end, Facebook recently announced an aggressive company-wide water goal, including efforts focused on the watersheds in the southwest where Facebook has operations.

Facebook aims to be ‘water positive’ 

On August 19, Facebook announced a new goal to be “water positive” by 2030 — that is, it intends to restore more water than than it consumes globally. The company had already worked to reduce water consumption at its data centers through increased deployment of renewable energy: In 2020, the footprint of the tech company’s global office and data centers reached the milestone of being supported by 100 percent renewable energy. The added benefit is that wind and solar photovoltaic power systems use negligible amounts of water, reducing the company’s water footprint as well. According to Facebook, the renewable energy switch alone has led to a savings of 1.4 billion cubic meters (over 380 billion gallons) of water, enough to fill 560,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. 

“Facebook’s data centers on average already use 80 percent less water than the industry standard,” Stefanie Woodward, water program lead for Facebook, told TriplePundit. “Now with this new goal, we will restore more water than we consume through conservation and ecosystem restoration, water supply and access, and investing in technology solutions to sustain watersheds into the future.” The company has started working in areas identified as those with high levels of water stress: New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, Utah, Oregon and California. 

In order to reach its ambitious goal, Facebook has to partner with stakeholders in the watershed. “One thing that’s unique about our water restoration is that we work not just with local nonprofits, but also with utilities,” Woodward said. When looking to establish water restoration and conservation projects, the company tries to find on “projects that have a social justice or climate resilience component” in the watersheds where Facebook has operations, she continued. To that end, so far the company is engaged with 14 different water restoration projects across six basins, which restored 595 million gallons of water in 2020. 

New Facebook projects aim to tackle water scarcity in Arizona

One of Facebook’s flagship water projects is in conjunction with its data center in Mesa, Arizona. The city draws water from both the Colorado and Salt Rivers. While the Salt River basin is in relatively good shape, with reservoir levels at 67 percent, the Colorado River is under extreme stress. For the first time ever, in August 2021, the federal government triggered mandatory water restrictions in the watershed, including an 18 percent cut for Arizona, mainly for agriculture. Facebook has invested in projects that will restore 200 million gallons per year to both river basins. Further, the company is working with the Salt River Project to source water credits that cover the operational usage of the data center, instead of drawing water directly from the city of Mesa, freeing up additional supplies for other needs. 

While such volumetric goals are important, Facebook’s water-positive goal aims to go beyond the volume. “For each of our high-risk basins, we’re looking at ways we can have a catalytic impact to support those who are already working in the watershed,” Woodward explained. “Research, technology investments and grants can all open the door to work in more creative ways in watersheds, in addition to the volumetric goals.”

Further, the work in Mesa and other sites around Arizona are personal for Woodward, who hails from the state. “The three projects [in Arizona] that we added this year have a special place in my heart, having visited all those places,” she said. As a water expert, Woodward doesn’t need added incentive, but studies show that a personal connection to water makes engaging in water conservation programs more successful. Arizonans will increasingly feel the brunt of water stress in their watersheds, which could lead to more active stakeholder participation.

Communities, water and company operations

Facebook’s announcement comes at a critical point in the intersection of water and technology in water-stressed areas in the southwest. Data centers are notoriously thirsty. It’s a complicated scenario: The southwest is growing in both population and business centers — more straws in the same drink — while climate change adds further stress to supplies. Data centers across the board have improved efficiency, and companies are investing in renewable energy (thus reducing water demand) and setting water goals. Microsoft has a similar water positive by 2030 goal. But some communities are pushing back at water demands from technology companies in their area, and the tension will likely increase as the drought in the region continues.

Efficiency, restoration and the deployment of low-water electricity are all critical components of enabling a water-positive future for the southwest. In order to ensure water supplies are available to meet all the demands of the people and businesses in the region, every stakeholder will need to be engaged. Companies like Facebook with a significant presence and a proactive water stance to not only reduce their usage, but also enhance supplies are necessary for communities to be resilient and sustainable under climate change. In the end, water is always personal.

This article series is sponsored by Meta and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team. 

Image credits: Gert Boers and Tom Gainor via Unsplash

Bamboozle, a company that produces plastic-looking kitchenware from a combination of bamboo and other renewable sources, is looking to scale up and further its aim to cut disposable plastic use.

“We really want to continue evolving our material and finding partners who want to take on the material,” said Avishai Greenstein, Bamboozle’s brand manager. “We’re very happy to engage with them. Our goal is to accelerate the transition away from legacy plastics. If we do our small part in the housewares industry, we are happy with that. Hopefully, the work we are doing can advance the cause across more industries."

Bamboozle built loyalty during the pandemic, and now it's looking to grow

The six-year-old company uses Astrik, a mix of 15 percent bamboo and 85 percent polylactic acid (PLA), a plastic-like substance made from renewable sources such as corn starch, sugarcane or tapioca, to make serving dishes, bowls, composters and other kitchenware.

Many of the machines used in manufacturing Bamboozle products have been converted from the plastics industry. The company has a partner in the Midwest that mixes materials. Its products are manufactured with one-fifth of the greenhouse gases used to make plastic, and once they reach the end of their lifespans, they are biodegradable, so they don’t end up in oceans or landfills.

The company’s composter has proven popular recently, in part because Bamboozle was an early entry in the composter arena. “It seems like the first person to get it right, gets the most business on the Internet,” joked Greenstein.

Bamboozle built loyalty during the pandemic in part by selling attractive, functional, sustainably-produced housewares online and making custom items. It was able to persevere despite the explosion of single-use plastic, which people felt were safer to use while COVID-19 was raging. Bamboozle’s product line also includes trays and cups designed to prep, cook and serve a meal.

“Custom work is great,” Greenstein explained. “It gives us the capability to be more flexible. People don’t want to copy us because we can just do it for them.”

The company is also connecting with smaller retailers with environmentally-friendly products as well as expanding its involvement with branded e-commerce. Independent stores, which struggled during the pandemic, are making a comeback and shifting to more sustainable, zero-waste products. “We love working with them,” Greenstein said. “We want the most cutting edge partners."

“We want to engage with other brands,” he added. “We want to build out a list of people trying to do something different and better. We’re sticking to our guns, with elaborate colors and unique designs. We have to be ourselves as much as possible.”

Scaling an alternative to single-use plastic

Bamboozle’s biggest rival is traditional plastic items. “The competition is something that breaks easily and is just trying to chase the lowest price possible,” Greenstein noted.

Some consumers have voiced concerns that Bamboozle uses foods in its product formula, and the company says it is always investigating alternatives. “We’re looking at ways to use garbage, or possibly grow more bamboo,” Greenstein told us. “We look for opportunities in every step of the supply chain to make improvements.”

The increase in sustainably-produced items has been hampered in part by their price and design. “People may be willing to spend more on design, and then sustainability is the cherry on top,” he said. “Sustainability is wonderful, but useful is important. I wish more people would care about sustainability.”

Eventually, sustainable operations will be the standard for how most things are done, Greenstein predicts. If everyone in every supply chain just improved their sustainability efforts by 5 percent, whether in terms of construction, transportation or waste disposal, sustainability levels would grow much faster, he added. “Never downplay anyone who says they are only doing this little thing,” he said. “We have to start somewhere.”

Images courtesy of Bamboozle

Climate Week in New York City started out with a clear message: The time for talking has passed; put your words into action. Climate action comes in many forms — policy change, investments in ecosystem restoration, clean technology innovation and much more. Oceans, increasingly under threat from melting glaciers and coral bleaching, are another big blue opportunity for action sitting right under our noses. 

Over the last two centuries, the oceans have absorbed a third of the carbon dioxide that has been released into the atmosphere and 90 percent of the heat trapped by elevated levels of greenhouse gases, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Natural cycles store carbon, but the robust functioning of these processes isn’t guaranteed. For one, we need to ensure the protection of marine biodiversity. Recognizing the relationship between a healthy oceans and climate change mitigation, on Monday the corporation-led United Nations Global Compact announced its Ocean Stewardship Coalition, designed as a forum to drive responsible ocean business practices and restoration. 

The big picture is that achieving global coordinated action in responsibly managing our oceans requires cross-sector cooperation, something the U.N. Global Compact is well-positioned to achieve. “The challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss cannot be overcome unless the ocean is central to considerations,” Peter Thomson, the U.N. Secretary-General's special envoy for the ocean, said in a statement. “Also true is that strong global governance and coordination will be essential to realising the full potential of a sustainable ocean economy. The launch of the U.N. Global Compact Ocean Stewardship Coalition is timely — never has collaboration between multi-stakeholders been more vital.”

The rubber on the road impact of a United Nations coalition for the oceans

Is it possible for a U.N. forum to make real change? The U.N. Global Compact has had its share of critics, including those skeptical about the impact such a business group can make. The Compact claims tangible results, though. Former CEO and executive director of the Compact, Lise Kingo, has cited some measurable progress the group has brought in its two decades of existence. 

In an article for the U.N. Chronicle, Kingo notes advances in water stewardship and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) reporting, as well as coalition-building through the Sustainable Ocean Business Action Platform. She writes that the platform has mobilized more than 40 major international civil society and private-sector organizations in action, investment and partnerships in the name of ocean health. Perhaps positive outcomes from the Ocean Stewardship Coalition are possible. 

Two years after publishing its Sustainable Ocean Principles, the Compact takes its ocean advocacy a step forward into collaboration through the Coalition — convening governments, companies, NGOs, academic institutions, and U.N. partners to find direction and initiative regarding ocean conservation and management. 

First to come from the Coalition is an input paper for COP26, happening in November. Titled Blueprint for a Climate-Smart Ocean to Meet 1.5 ° C, the paper reports on four work-streams that brought together 100 stakeholders around the subjects of zero-carbon maritime transport, offshore renewable energy, low-carbon blue food and nature-based solutions. The resulting recommendations are specific enough to be practical, touching upon the role seaweed can play in carbon sequestration, shipping technology advancement, offshore renewable energy development and science-based emissions reduction for seafood. 

A report any corporation should read to survive a warming climate

Specificity and practicality define this input paper. Six basic steps branch into explicit actions for U.N. parties, business leaders and financial actors. Even if the report doesn’t lead directly to action in the near-term, its detailing of the business case for ocean conservation can create ripple effects across the membership. 

One fast fact cited by authors: As early as the 2030s, flooding is projected to become an increased threat to critical coastal infrastructure like ports — of note to any business reliant on shipping. From this angle, the Ocean Stewardship Coalition’s first report doesn’t ask of businesses charity, or even “blue washing,” but sensible business practices. 

Image credit: Shifaaz shamoon/Unsplash

As Climate Week enters its third day, the headlines are coming in quickly. Don't have time to keep up? We've got you covered. Read on for the biggest news that crossed our desks this week. 

Climate Week kicks off with urgency and optimism

Climate Week kicked off on Monday with calls for urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. "This week is about getting it done," Helen Clarkson, CEO of the Climate Group, said during her opening remarks at Climate Week. 

Last month's report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as well as another released last week, paint a grim picture of climate impacts accelerating at a far faster rate than previously estimated. It's a hard pill to swallow, but IPCC scientists are quick to note we still have time to avert the worst impacts of climate change, if we act quickly.

Climate Week organizers leaned in to that positive sentiment as they looked to stir the heads of state, business leaders and NGO representatives in attendance into action. "This is your problem, not your successor’s," Clarkson told leaders plainly. "And as exhausting as all of this sounds, I still think we can be optimistic about our ability to get it done."

Under pressure to act faster, governments make new commitments

Alongside Climate Week, world leaders will meet in New York for the U.N. General Assembly under intense pressure to ramp up the ambition of their climate policies ahead of the COP26 talks in Glasgow. If the early part of the week is any indication, many are ready to answer the call.

Among the news this week, a group of Mediterranean countries pledged to work together to tackle the challenges posed by extreme weather, following a summer of unprecedented wildfires. Costa Rica and Denmark are leading efforts to build the world’s first diplomatic alliance to manage the decline of the fossil fuel industry. With their "Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance,” the leaders aim to set a deadline for the end of oil and gas production and set off a push to keep fossil fuel reserves in the ground. 

Meanwhile President Joe Biden pledged to double the United States' climate finance commitments to developing nations to $11.4 billion per year by 2024. 

CFOs pledge $500 billion to advance the SDGs

A group of chief financial officers from 60 leading companies pledged to invest more than $500 billion over the next five years to support the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The CFOs, whose companies represent a combined $1.7 trillion in market capitalization, also committed to link nearly half of all corporate financing to sustainability performance, with plans to issue hundreds of billions in new sustainable finance instruments, including green and sustainable bonds. 

All of the CFOs are members of the U.N. Global Compact CFO Taskforce, which says corporate financial commitments in support of the SDGs "are likely to increase further" as the group recruits more members.  

Campaign calls on businesses and their customers to lobby for climate action in the U.S.

As the U.S. Congress considers major climate legislation, a coalition of more than 160 businesses pledged to lobby their representatives and help their customers do the same. In September and October, participating companies will encourage their customers to join them by calling their lawmakers and voicing support for an ambitious policy.

Companies including Clif Bar, Aveda, Burt’s Bees, Legacy Vacation Resorts, Sierra Nevada and Numi Tea have signed on to the #Call4ClimateNOW campaign, organized by the Climate Collaborative. 

“Until now, only a handful of businesses have had a dialogue with their millions of consumers about climate change or mobilized them as partners in climate advocacy,” Kim Coupounas, head of impact for B Lab, the nonprofit that certifies B Corporations, said of the campaign. “If there is ever a time for all of us to speak up, it is now. We no longer have the luxury of just worrying about climate — or paying it lip service in our marketing materials. We must act.”

U.N. Global Compact announces new Africa Strategy 

With 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.5 trillion, Africa is the world’s biggest growth market, and a U.N.-backed business coalition is betting on the role of African businesses in a sustainable future.

Over the next two years, the U.N. Global Compact (UNGC) will meet with business leaders across the continent with the aim of promoting its Ten Principles, which outline fundamental business responsibilities in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. 

By 2023, the UNGC aims to have reached a third of African businesses with more than $25 million in turnover and increased its small to medium-sized business membership by 50 percent. The move comes ahead of the U.N. Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP27) in Africa in 2022.

L'Oréal, Salesforce mark net-zero milestones

Salesforce's annual customer conference, Dreamforce, coincides with Climate Week this year, and the company marked the occasion by announcing it has reached net-zero emissions across its entire value chain (Scopes 1, 2 and 3). The company says it now sources 100 percent renewable energy for its operations and compensated for emissions it couldn't eliminate by purchasing credible renewable energy and carbon credits.

"This is not in 2030, not in 2040, not in some other future moment," Suzanne DiBianca, the company's chief impact officer and EVP for corporate relations, said at Dreamforce. "We know we have to accelerate, and we have gotten to net zero today." The company also released a Climate Action Plan to offer a blueprint for other businesses to reach net zero, as well as updates to the Sustainability Cloud, a product it sells to help other organizations manage their climate initiatives. 

Meanwhile L'Oréal, a lead sponsor of Climate Week, celebrated reaching net-zero operational emissions at all of its U.S. sites through the use of 100 percent renewable energy. L'Oréal has pledged to reach carbon neutrality at all of its operated sites worldwide by 2025. 

What's next at Climate Week?

Looking ahead to the rest of Climate Week: The Sustainable Investment Forum North America continues on Thursday, with debates and panel discussions about the role of financial markets in driving climate action forward. The all-virtual SDG Action Zone kicks off today and runs through Friday, with topics of discussion including vaccine equity, systemic racism, climate action and the circular economy. 

The United Nations will host its first Food Systems Summit on Thursday, where leaders will gather to discuss how to feed more people with fewer resources, and environmental groups including Ceres and Earthjustice also have side events planned this week. 

Youth activists around the world are holding a climate strike on Friday, including in New York City where leaders are gathering for Climate Week. Ahead of the demonstration, prominent youth activist Greta Thunberg said organizers plan to hold those leaders to account. “Time and time again, the leaders today show that they do not care about the future — at least it doesn’t seem like it,” Thunberg said in a video conference call from her home in Stockholm. “They say that they listen to us young people, but they are obviously not. They have proven that now again. And that’s why we will be back on the streets.”

Image credits: Markus Spiske and Mika Baumeister via Unsplash 

The top five U.S. tech companies have been getting high marks for helping to drive the market for renewable energy, clean vehicles, and other technologies aimed at cutting their carbon footprint. However, Big Tech's influence on climate action could be exponentially more significant if their lobbying dollars were a true reflection of their supposed concern for avoiding catastrophic global climate change.

The top five tech firms lead on climate action

A new report by the organization Influence Map provides some insight into the difference between climate lobbying activity by the “Big Five” tech companies —  Apple, Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and the Google umbrella firm Alphabet — and their public profile on climate action.

Collectively, these five firms have professed to care about climate change, and they've expressed that concern through various actions. For example, as a group they have exercised considerable influence on the renewable energy profile of the U.S.

As early adopters of new clean tech, the Big Five helped spark demand for clean power during the Obama administration. They also set the stage for costs to drop and growth to continue all through the Trump administration, despite the former president’s numerous attempts to pull back on climate action.

For example, Facebook announced a clean power plan for its data centers in 2011, when wind and solar power were still relatively expensive, partly in response to pressure from Greenpeace and others. Apple followed suit with a $3 billion commitment to solar power in 2015, and by 2016 Google had become the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in the world.

Amazon also ranks high in terms of clean power buys, and Microsoft is another early clean power adopter, having joined Facebook in 2016 as a founding member of the Rocky Mountain Institute’s Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance. More recently, Microsoft has begun moving into the emerging green hydrogen field.

But big tech has an issue with climate change denial

On the other hand, the Big Five tech companies have also taken their share of hits over foot-dragging on climate action. Amazon is perhaps the best known example, having taken internal criticism from its own employees for providing a platform for climate change deniers through its book sales and for providing services to the fossil fuel industry through its Amazon Web Services branch.

Amazon is not the only one of the Big Five that has attracted media attention over its self-contradictory role in climate action. Facebook, for example, has also served as a powerful platform for amplifying fringe theories and misinformation aimed at muddling public opinion on climate action.

The new report from Influence Map assembles the Big Tech pieces into one big puzzle, and it’s not pretty.

“While Big Tech holds positive positions on climate policy, its support is not backed up by strategic advocacy. In addition, the companies' direct influence is overshadowed by the highly strategic and anti-climate advocacy of their industry associations in the U.S. and abroad,” Influence Map reported. 

Influence Map points out that the Big Five have not changed their positions in 2021, even though President Joe Biden came into office with a substantial climate action agenda that is the polar opposite of former President Trump’s fossil-friendly energy policies.

“Following the inauguration of a new, climate-focused administration in the U.S., alongside new warnings from the IPCC and IEA on the need for drastic climate action, one might expect to see an increase in U.S. corporate climate policy engagement,” Influence Map noted.

Instead, the opposite has occurred. According to Influence Map’s "engagement intensity" analysis of lobbying activity, as a group the Big Five tech companies have reduced their climate lobbying this year, while lobbying by five oil industry leaders —ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) and ConocoPhillips — has risen.

“All five Big Oil companies lobbied on bills such as the CLEAN Future Act [which calls for a 50 percent reduction in U.S. emissions by 2050], where all five Big Tech companies were absent,” Influence Map reported. The oil industry’s lobbying power is aided by cross-sector alliances including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Business Roundtable, the group found.

Faint bright spots in the Big Tech picture

Though Influence Map paints with a broad brush, its analysis does point out some nuances in the engagement intensity metric.

For example, Facebook and Apple increased their lobbying activity slightly in favor of climate policies, though it was not nearly enough to make up for more significant drops in activity by Microsoft, Google and Amazon.

Influence Map also points out that although Apple underperformed the other four companies on the metric, it did voice support for President Biden's proposed clean energy standards through its VP of environment, policy and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson.

Apple also took a significant action back in 2009 when it became the first of the Big Five to withdraw from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over the organization’s climate change policies.

The move garnered praise from Greenpeace and others hoping for additional tech companies to follow suit, but so far none of the other four Big Tech firms have done so. In 2010 Microsoft issued a statement distancing itself from the Chamber’s position on climate change, but stopped short of leaving the organization.

What’s next for Big Tech

The Influence Map report helps shed some light on a problem with Democratic Party unity that some observers of Congress have been struggling to explain. Democrats have a majority in both the House and Senate, but the party needs all 50 Democratic senators in Congress to unite for votes, with Vice President Kamala Harris providing the tie-breaker.

That appears to be all but impossible, thanks to two holdouts whose motives have remained mysterious to some: Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona.

Manchin’s motivation has been clarified in recent weeks as allegations surfaced of his ties to the fossil energy industry, particularly ExxonMobil. Coincidentally, Influence Map notes that ExxonMobil has increased its climate-related spending since January, including a spike in activity after the reconciliation bill was introduced by Democrats last month.

“Since the announcement of the reconciliation bill on the 9th of August 2021, ExxonMobil has spent $1.1 million on Facebook political and issue ads in the U.S. These ads have gained over 21 million impressions,” Influence Map reported.

An analysis by Oil Change U.S. last summer also linked Sen. Sinema to financial support from ExxonMobil, along with Manchin and several other Democratic senators.

If Big Tech really wants to get serious about climate action, putting their lobbying dollars to work for President Biden’s climate policies would be a good place to start.

Image credit: Nadine Shaabana/Unsplash

As heads of state, business leaders and civil society organizers come together for Climate Week in New York, late-night television hosts have their own idea for pushing climate action forward. Some of the top late-night hosts on television, including Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah and Seth Meyers, will devote their shows to discussing climate change on Wednesday, Sept. 22. 

The shows participating in the cross-network Climate Night are: “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and “The Late Late Show With James Corden” on CBS, "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night With Seth Meyers” on NBC, “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee” on TBS, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on ABC, and “The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” on Comedy Central, the New York Times reports.

Each will plan their own original programming focused on climate change and look to bring some humor to the conversation while building awareness among the public. 

Late-night hosts add some humor to Climate Week while building awareness for action

Although scientists agree we still have time to avoid the worst impacts if we act quickly, conversations about the climate crisis often devolve into a laundry list of reasons why the world is coming to an end.

Understandably, the doom and gloom takes its toll: People around the world are increasingly worried about the impacts climate change will have on their own lives, and psychologists are already reporting a link between concern about climate change and mental health issues, particularly in young people. 

Those looking for some levity in the Climate Week news cycle may find this push from late-night hosts is just what the doctor ordered. 

The event is the brainchild of Steve Bodow, a former showrunner at “The Daily Show” and Netflix’s “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj.” Bodow told the New York Times the event was organized to coincide with Climate Week and call attention to the subject by having late-night shows from across networks focus on it simultaneously.

“Climate change, obviously, is something we’re all dealing with,” he told the Times. “We’re all talking about it. We all need to be talking about it. What if these shows all talked about it at once? It makes a statement that they’re all willing to do this.”

While the impacts of climate change are surely no laughing matter, the concept was developed intentionally to bring some much-needed levity to a serious conversation while sharing information some viewers didn't have before. "Comedy is a great delivery system for actual information,” comedian Samantha Bee of “Full Frontal" told the Times. 

The bottom line: More awareness of climate change is always a good thing 

Despite the urgency of the climate crisis, it is notoriously under-covered by mainstream media. Broadcast television nightly news and Sunday shows covered climate change for a total of 112 minutes in all of 2020, while morning news programs aired a combined 267 minutes of climate coverage last year, according to the nonprofit media watchdog Media Matters for America. 

With that perspective, this event from late-night hosts — which amounts to about 280 minutes of climate programming in a single night — is actually a pretty big deal. And given the influence these stars have on American life, their move to come together to build the conversation around climate action has the potential for outsized impact. 

"Late-night hosts reflect our national conversation even more than Russian Twitter bots set it," Bodow told CNN. "So this incredible group of shows coming together makes a statement about the scale and urgency of the world's hottest problem."

TriplePundit is tracking topics like this during Climate Week and in the lead-up to COP26 in Glasgow. Sign up for our daily newsletter to get the latest directly in your inbox. 

Image credit: Neil Grabowsky / Montclair Film via Wikimedia Commons