Driven through an ongoing partnership between edie and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), new sustainable business commitments have been made from the likes of Barratt Developments, DHL Global Forwarding, EDF Energy and KPMG – all of which have been posted on edie’s Mission Possible Pledge Wall, which was launched towards the end of September.

New pledges have been made as part of Green GB Week – a week-long series of content and events that showcases the benefits clean growth will bring to all parts of society.

Call to ACTION

Commenting on the Mission Possible Pledges, Energy Minister Claire Perry said: “Governments cannot confront this unprecedented global challenge alone. We need businesses around the world to step up to the mark and today our largest companies are leading the way, making significant pledges worth millions to cut emissions while continuing to grow the green economy.

“I’m calling on all businesses, from family farms in Herefordshire to banks in the Square Mile, to take action to mark our first ever Green GB Week. Whether it’s getting rid of plastic cups or installing solar panels – everyone business can play their part.”

The adoption of science-based targets to reduce emissions, the elimination of single-use plastics and the switch to 100% renewable energy are among the 60+ sustainable business commitments that now appear on the Mission Possible Pledge Wall, which was launched as part of edie’s new sustainable business campaign at the end of September.

Mission Possible Pledges announced include:

Aberdeen Standard Investments

“We pledge to make our Airport Industrial Property Unit Trust real estate fund carbon-neutral by 2025.”

Amazon

“We pledge to deploy up to 20MW of large-scale rooftop solar systems on 10 of our fulfilment centres in the UK over the coming 18 months, generating the equivalent amount of electricity required to power over 4,500 UK homes.”

Barratt Developments

“We pledge to develop a science-based carbon reduction target by the end of 2019. We also pledge to procure renewable electricity for 100% of our non-landlord supplied offices by the end of October 2018. And we will also reduce our waste intensity by 20%, to 5.67 tonnes per 100sqm (compared to baseline of 7.09 tonnes per 100sq m in FY 2015), by 2025.”

DHL Global Forwarding (UK)

“We pledge to set up a ban on single use plastics from all of our UK sites. This includes items such as plastic cups, cutlery and straws. Glassware, crockery and stainless steel will be used instead.”

Deloitte 

“Deloitte has targeted the highest sustainability standards in our new London headquarters, optimising environmental performance and maximising wellbeing design. From today, we pledge to apply the same principles to all future UK office fit-outs.”

EDF Energy

“We pledge to electrifying our own fleet – cure around 1,500 vehicles – by 2030, double the objective set by the Government by that same deadline.”

ENGIE

“We pledge to introduce 395 electric vehicles across the business, and will also invest more than £600,000 into an EV charge point infrastructure at our offices, customers sites and employees homes.”

Green Tourism

“We pledge to provide advice and guidance to 5,000 members of the hospitality industry to help them work towards zero use of single-use plastic by the end of 2019 – especially in foodservice and personal hygiene products”

John Lewis Partnership

“We pledge to revolutionise our 500-strong fleet of John Lewis & Partners and Waitrose & Partners delivery trucks, turning current diesel lorries into bio-methane clean machines by 2028.”

KPMG LLP

“We pledge to replace all single-use plastic cups in every hot drinks dispenser with compostable or paper cups, saving three million plastic cups a year, as part of ongoing efforts to reduce consumption of single-use plastics across our UK offices.”

Marlow Foods (owner of Quorn Foods)

“We pledge to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.”

PwC

“We pledge to drive efficiencies and switch to 100% renewable electricity by 2022, and offset all unavoidable air travel emissions from 2018. We also pledge to increase spend on vegetables sold in the Social Co. restaurants inside PwC’s UK offices from our 2017 baseline of 15% to 25%, by 2020, as part of the Peas Please campaign, working in collaboration with our caterer, BaxterStorey.”

Royal Mail Group

“We commit to investing in existing and new technologies and trialling low or zero-emission vehicles, to reduce our emissions by 20 per cent by 2020–21, against a 2004–05 baseline.”

View all 67 business commitments listed on the Mission Possible Pledge Wall here

Commenting on this latest wave of pledges, edie’s content director Luke Nicholls said: “The timing couldn’t be better. One week ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provided yet another stark warning about the devastating effects of global warming. One week on and it’s fantastic to see so many sustainability leaders stepping up for the cause and pledging to transform business, for good.

“Of course, this is just the beginning of the journey for many of these businesses – and, indeed, for our Mission Possible campaign. Now, the emphasis must be on collaborating, innovating, and turning these ambitions into actions, and Green GB Week is the ideal platform to do so”

As the official media partner of Green GB Week, edie will be leading and reporting on a selection of some of the biggest clean growth events happening throughout the week – including our own Science-Based Targets webinar, taking place on Thursday at 2pm (register here).

Anyone interested in posting a new sustainable business commitment of their own onto the Wall can make a Mission Possible Pledge anytime using this online form, or by emailing missionpossible@edie.net.

edie staff 

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