By Ahmed Rahma
Five new companies have agreed to work closely towards achieving a low-carbon economy by the year 2040 by embracing the different carbon-emission elimination strategies.
The global firms are Uber, Rivian, JetBlue, Cabify and Boom Supersonic. They have joined the 13 organisations already in The Climate Pledge campaign, which has a commitment to achieve the Paris Agreement 10 years early.
The other 13 organisations are Amazon, Best Buy, Henkel, Infosys, McKinstry, Mercedes-Benz, Oak View Group, Real Betis, Reckitt Benckiser (RB), Schneider Electric, Siemens, Signify and Verizon.
The Climate Pledge was co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism in 2019. Signatories to the pact agreed to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions on a regular basis and embrace renewable energy and others.
“By signing The Climate Pledge, companies around the world are making a bold commitment to help protect our planet from the devastating impacts of climate change,” the CEO of Amazon, Mr Jeff Bezos, stressed.
One of the new signatories, Cabify, through its CEO, Mr Juan de Antonio, stated that, “Efficient urban mobility is key in the fight against climate change.”
“Cabify wants to be part of the solution, and that’s why for the third year in a row we have committed to offsetting the carbon emissions that our riders and operations generate while we continue to support the electrification of the fleets we work with. We’re pleased to join The Climate Pledge to continue to be transparent about our sustainability journey,” he enthused.
On its part, JetBlue, which achieved carbon neutrality for all domestic flights in July 2020, it aims to ramp up to over 7 million metric tons of CO2 emissions offset each year—the annual equivalent of removing more than 1.5 million passenger vehicles from the road.
“The climate crisis remains one of the biggest threats facing our industry. Now is the time to rebuild operations in more sustainable ways, such as adopting sustainable aviation fuel and setting clear strategies to reduce net aviation CO2 emissions,” the CEO of JetBlue, Mr Robin Hayes, said.
The CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, stressed that his company intends to have 100 per cent of its rides taking place in zero-emission vehicles, on public transit, or with micromobility options such as bikes and scooters by 2040.
“As we announced in September, Uber is taking this moment as an opportunity to drive a green recovery from the pandemic,” Khosrowshahi noted.
