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Businesses make moves to 100% renewable electricity, fleet electrification

Businesses around the globe are not waiting for government mandates to find ways to reduce carbon emissions and their environmental footprints.

Technology is adapting at a faster pace than ever before, and government regulations are often the last to adjust to those changes, said Jim Massey, global vice president of sustainability strategy and engagement at biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca PLC. In the case of electric vehicles, for example, companies and individuals' decisions to choose that technology can do more to encourage others to buy electric vehicles than government regulations.

"If we're waiting for that to happen, we're in trouble," Massey said Sept. 25 in New York City at a forum hosted by The Climate Group, a nonprofit that aims to accelerate action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

AstraZeneca is part of The Climate Group's EV100 initiative, which seeks to encourage a shift to electric vehicles. The company committed to transitioning its directly controlled fleet of 16,000 vehicles to electric by 2030.

For the company, the move is tied to an awareness that the health of the planet and the health of individuals are linked. Driving cars to doctors' offices in places with poor air quality does not make sense for a company that helps treat respiratory ailments, Massey said.

"We can't be adding to the problem we're trying to help solve," the executive said.

A move by Ingka Group, which operates Ikea furniture stores, to produce as much renewable energy as it consumes in its buildings by 2020 has less to do with government mandates than with a desire to improve how it makes and supplies its products and interacts with customers, said Pia Heidenmark Cook, the company's chief sustainability officer.

"I would say very little of what we do is because of governments telling us to do it," she said.

Rather, the move stems from a company vision to "create a better everyday life for the many people" and to become more sustainable.

Ingka Group, whose parent company is INGKA Holding BV, is among the more than 200 companies that have committed to renewables and joined The Climate Group's RE100 initiative. It has been investing in renewable generation facilities in the U.S. and Europe.

Healthcare company Novo Nordisk A/S, another RE100 member, is on track to hit a target to source 100% renewable power at all production sites by 2020, said Camilla Sylvest, the company's executive vice president, commercial strategy and corporate affairs. Early on, the company paid more for green energy compared to other types of energy. But that was not an issue, Sylvest said.

"Sometimes, someone needs to take the first step to say, 'This is the right way to go,'" Sylvest said.

That, in turn, will send signals that there is a demand for green energy, and businesses will develop to meet that demand. Sylvest added that Novo Nordisk is no longer paying more money for green energy.

When manufacturing and technology company 3M Co. set a goal in 2015 for 25% of its global electricity to come from renewable resources, the target was "daunting," said the company's chief sustainability officer, Gayle Schueller. But 3M surpassed that goal in 2018. It is now committed to getting 100% renewable electricity for its global operations by 2050, with an interim goal of 2025.

Businesses encouraged to 'tell the story' on efforts

To Archie Young, who served as the U.K.'s lead negotiator in climate talks, it is important for countries trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to hear from businesses and citizens.

Young encouraged attendees to do things such as set targets aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees C.

"Take action and tell the story," Young said. "Tell your consumers what you are doing, but also tell that story down your supply chain, so that the governments in the countries where you are operating also feel that confidence."

Young's remarks came days after speakers at the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City acknowledged that far more needs to be done to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. Countries that are parties to that agreement have until the end of 2020 to announce their increased emissions-reduction targets and implementation plans, known as nationally determined contributions.

Utilities such as National Grid USA are also taking steps to cut emissions. The company, which serves electric and gas customers in the northeastern United States, committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

The addition of renewables and electric vehicles will require utilities to invest in and modernize the grid, said Rudolph Wynter, National Grid's president and COO, wholesale networks and U.S. capital delivery. It will also require utilities to look differently at their role in doing those upgrades.

"Traditionally, our role was essentially building pipes or wires or cables to make that happen," Wynter said.

But new technologies such as energy storage can sometimes eliminate the need for cables at a fraction of the price. For instance, on Nantucket, an island off the coast of Cape Cod, Mass., National Grid built a battery energy storage project that eliminated the need for the utility to build a third cable to connect it with the mainland.