This blog was originally posted on the CA Technologies Corporate Blog: Perspectives.
I’m very proud to announce that CA Technologies is a signatory of the BICEP Climate Declaration, launched today in Washington, DC. We have talked about BICEP previously on this blog, and the Climate Declaration is an example of how the organization is mobilizing business leadership to promote a sustainable world. Along with dozens of leading brands from across the economy like Nike, Intel, Jones Lang Lasalle, Levi Strauss, Starbucks, eBay, and EMC, we are joining together to stress the economic and societal benefits of addressing climate change. We’re “.coms” not “.orgs” and we believe that tackling climate change is one of America’s greatest economic opportunities in the 21st century. The declaration states:
“What made America great was taking a stand. Doing the things that are hard. And seizing opportunities. The very foundation of our country is based on fighting for our freedoms and ensuring the health and prosperity of our state, our community, and our families. Today those things are threatened by a changing climate that most scientists agree is being caused by air pollution. We cannot risk our kids’ futures on the false hope that the vast majority of scientists are wrong. But just as America rose to the great challenges of the past and came out stronger than ever, we have to confront this challenge, and we have to win. And in doing this right, by saving money when we use less electricity, by saving money to drive a more efficient car, by choosing clean energy, by inventing new technologies that other countries buy, and creating jobs here at home, we will maintain our way of life and remain a true superpower in a competitive world. In order to make this happen, however, there must be a coordinated effort to combat climate change - with America taking the lead here at home. Leading is what we’ve always done. And by working together, regardless of politics, we’ll do it again.”
CA Technologies, and our colleagues in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, have a vital role to play in this effort. By inventing and deploying technology solutions to increase energy efficiency and lower costs, ICT can make a real difference in lowering energy usage and carbon emissions, as well as in creating good jobs here at home. The recent SMART 2020 report issued by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (gesi.org) “quantifies the significant contributions that ICT can make to improve energy efficiency and address climate change.” The analysis goes into detail on four pillars of opportunity that ICT will enable: Smart Grid Technology, Road Transportation (reducing travel time and congestion -- Check out what LA just did with synchronizing all their traffic lights!, Smart Buildings, and Travel Substitution (virtual meetings and flexible work arrangements). Taken together, effective implementation of these ICT enabled solutions could cut annual CO2 emissions in the U.S. by 13-22% from business as usual projections in 2020. These reductions translate to gross energy and fuel savings of $140 - $240 billion dollars.
And at CA Technologies we know first-hand that sustainability makes good business sense. By integrating sustainability into our corporate culture and our business processes, and by taking advantage of opportunities like cloud computing, data center virtualization, a green leasing program and teleworking, we’ve made our company substantially more resource efficient, while lowering our carbon footprint by 25% off 2006 levels. We’ve also built upon our commitment and leveraged our core competencies to launch new products and services, like our energy and sustainability software, to help other businesses lower their energy use and carbon footprint. By innovating in this new market, we are extending our impact and sharing business opportunity.
BICEP’s goal with the Climate Declaration is to get 100 major companies to sign the declaration within 100 days in order to heighten awareness of the need for sensible, meaningful legislation that will lay the groundwork for a more robust, energy efficient, lower carbon future. The Shaheen-Portman energy efficiency bill is a good example of a bipartisan and effective energy bill that can be signed into law this year. It is about to be reintroduced in the Senate (several key provisions have already been signed into law) and is broadly supported by a diverse group of industry, efficiency and environmental stakeholders. A recent study found that the bill could save consumers $60 billion by 2030, help businesses add 159,000 jobs to the economy and cut carbon-dioxide emissions by the equivalent of taking 21 million cars off the road.
We believe that organizations throughout the economy, whether they are for-profit, non-profit or governmental, stand to gain by lowering energy use, embracing sustainable principles and combating climate change. By joining together and signing the BICEP Climate Declaration our companies are doing our part by leading, not reacting to this challenge.
Take a stand, demand that Congress act, and ensure America addresses this challenge, seizes this opportunity and comes out stronger than ever.
Please join us.
Add the voice of your business, or your personal voice, to this movement by signing the Declaration today.