The Business Advantage of Climate Action

Businesses that proactively reduce their greenhouse gases and support policies that address the challenge of climate change will have a sustained advantage over their competitors. Becoming more energy efficient lowers costs, increases efficiencies and better positions your business to respond to future regulations. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change offers links to a number of business and climate reports about key issues confronting businesses as they address climate change, including reports that focus on the advantages gained by firms that take early action to address climate change.

Many companies have found they can increase their profitability by reducing their climate impacts. For example, the US Department of Energy estimates that each of its large plant energy assessments yields an average potential savings of $2.5 million. One of its partners, Alcoa, [PDF: 523 KB] has identified more than $60 million in savings opportunities through energy assessments and other initiatives. Many of these have been implemented with short payback periods and high returns on investment.

Check out Clean Air-Cool Planet, the Pew Center’s Business Environmental Leadership Council, and Climatebiz for examples of businesses that are saving money and improving their competitiveness by reducing their climate impacts.

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