Maersk, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft & others partner up on a net-zero future

Nine companies including A.P. Moller – Maersk, Danone, Mercedes-Benz AG, Microsoft Corp., Natura &Co, NIKE, Starbucks, Unilever, and Wipro, as well as Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are launching a new initiative to accelerate the transition to a net-zero global economy.

The initiative, known as Transform to Net Zero, intends to develop and deliver research, guidance, and implementable roadmaps to enable all businesses to achieve net zero emissions.

The Initiative is supported by BSR, which is serving as the Secretariat for the Initiative.

The founders said the Transform to Net Zero will focus on enabling the business transformation needed to achieve net zero emissions no later than 2050, in addition to driving broader change with a focus on policy, innovation, and finance.

The outputs of the initiative will be widely available to all, though additional companies may join.

The Initiative intends to complete the outputs of this work by 2025.

“A.P. Moller – Maersk is committed to a carbon-neutral future of transport and logistics. To contribute to the Paris agreement’s goal, we announced our ambition of having net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 back in 2018,” Søren Skou, CEO of A.P. Moller – Maersk, said.

“Since then we have taken several concrete actions to decarbonise the industry. The overall target of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees can only be reached through strong alliances across sectors and businesses. We are therefore happy to join Microsoft and other global companies in the Transform to Net Zero initiative.”

“The gap between where we are on climate change and where we need to be continues to widen. So does the gap between businesses that just talk about action and those that are actually getting the job done. This new initiative holds tremendous potential for closing these gaps. Especially if other businesses follow in the coalition’s footsteps, leading by example and using the most powerful tool that companies have for fighting climate change: their political influence,” Fred Krupp, President of Environmental Defense Fund, said.

The initiative will be led by the following principles:

• focus on transformation,
• led by science and best practice data and methods,
• levering existing efforts,
• strong governance and oversight
• robust reduction and removal across the extended enterprise
• investment in innovation
• policy engagement
• transparency and accountability
• just and sustainable transition with a focus on marginalized groups and low-income communities paving way for establishing conditions for sustainable climate solutions for people of all gender, race, or skills.