Henkel and Signify are joining The Climate Pledge. Henkel is committed to be net-zero carbon by 2040—a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement goal of 2050, while Signify joins to share best practices and lessons learned after reaching net-zero in 2020. With these two additions, 13 organizations have signed The Climate Pledge.

“By signing The Climate Pledge, companies around the world are taking collective action to protect our planet from the catastrophic impacts of climate change,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “We welcome Henkel as they join us in our commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040, a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement. We are also excited for Signify, which achieved carbon neutrality earlier this year, to join The Climate Pledge with the goal of collaborating with other signatories and sharing best practices. These companies are demonstrating important leadership as they help us accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and protect the planet for future generations.”

Amazon and Global Optimism co-founded The Climate Pledge in 2019. Amazon was the first signatory and 13 organizations have now signed on including: Amazon, Best Buy, Henkel, Infosys, McKinstry, Mercedes-Benz, Oak View Group, Real Betis, Reckitt Benckiser, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Signify, and Verizon—sending an important signal that there will be rapid growth in demand for products and services that help reduce carbon emissions.

The Climate Pledge

Henkel

Henkel’s commitment to leadership in sustainability has been embedded in its corporate culture for decades. Henkel, with headquarters in Germany and locations around the world, operates across three business units: Adhesive Technologies, Beauty Care, and Laundry & Home Care. The company’s portfolio of well-known consumer and industrial brands includes Schwarzkopf hair care, Dial soaps, Right Guard antiperspirants, Persil, Purex and all laundry detergents, Snuggle fabric softeners, Loctite, Technomelt, and Bonderite adhesives.

Henkel has been working closely with Amazon to promote sustainable innovation—for example, to enhance customer experience through new and sustainable packaging. Henkel’s long-term goal is to become climate-positive by 2040. In the near term, the company plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 65% by 2025 and 75% by 2030. By 2030, 100% of the electricity Henkel uses to power its operations is expected to come from renewable sources. By 2040, Henkel aims to have converted all remaining fossil fuels used in production to climate-neutral alternatives and supply surplus carbon-neutral energy to third parties. In addition, Henkel wants to leverage its brands and technologies to help customers, consumers, and suppliers save 100 million tons of CO2 from 2016 through 2025.

In 2019, Amazon launched a fully recyclable paper padded mailer that protects products during shipping while taking up less space in transit. This ensures customer deliveries arrive undamaged and in recyclable packaging with a lower carbon footprint. The recyclable mailer is made of four layers of paper and a water-based cushioning material using components commonly found in the glue used to make cardboard. The lightweight recyclable cushioning was specifically designed to easily separate from the paper in the same way that print inks and other paper coatings are removed during the paper recycling process.

"Climate change is a global challenge, which requires our collective action. At Henkel, we want to make a positive contribution to protecting the climate. Based on our achievements to date, and in line with our ambitions for the coming years, we are pleased to join and support The Climate Pledge," said Carsten Knobel, Henkel CEO. “Together with Amazon, Global Optimism, and the other signatories, we are committed to driving tangible progress and jointly taking action to limit global warming.”

Amazon has been working with Henkel's organic beauty brand N.A.E. to enhance customer experience through new and sustainable packaging. The collaboration is part of Amazon's Frustration Free Packaging (FFP) program, designed to develop solutions that delight customers and eliminate waste, whilst ensuring the products arrive intact.

Signify

Signify, the world leader in lighting, is another new member of The Climate Pledge. Signify provides lighting for professional use, consumers, and lighting for the Internet of Things and includes global brands Color Kinetics, Philips, and Interact. At the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) in December 2015, Signify committed to achieving carbon-neutral operations in 2020. In September 2020, the company announced that it had achieved carbon-neutral operations ahead of schedule, and plans to double its positive impact on the environment and society in 2025. Signify will join The Climate Pledge to share its experience, and to help and encourage other signatories to advance their own carbon reduction programs.

“We are pleased to join The Climate Pledge community, as it mobilizes companies to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, 10 years early,” said Harry Verhaar, Signify Head of Global Public and Government Affairs. “We are committed to sharing best practices with other companies from our own journey to carbon neutrality in 2020, and to ramping up our positive impact on the environment and society.”

“The Paris Agreement provided a unifying roadmap for all countries, companies, and people to address the climate crisis by taking actions to ensure we do not exceed 1.5C in global warming,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s former climate change chief, now Founding Partner of Global Optimism. “By joining The Climate Pledge, these companies are demonstrating both their ambitions for the future and for recovery now. Their actions and investments are creating sorely needed jobs, spurring innovation, regenerating the natural environment, and helping their consumers to buy more sustainable products. The growing collective of companies joining The Climate Pledge, acting in accordance with science, is cause for optimism.”

Learn more about The Climate Pledge.