64% of U.S., U.K. Adults Say Governments Should Require Emissions Targets
Editor’s Note: This article references Salesforce Sustainability Cloud, which is now known as Net Zero Cloud. For the latest on Salesforce’s sustainability solutions, check out this product page. For the latest news on Salesforce’s sustainability efforts, check out this page.
Salesforce research reveals people expect significant climate action from businesses and governments.
On December 12, 2015, 195 countries committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions and limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This critical pledge took place at COP21, the site of the landmark Paris Agreement.
Fast forward to 2021, at the U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP26), where the world is now seeking even bigger and bolder actions.
This week in Glasgow, international leaders are pledging to accelerate their efforts in the fight against climate change. The stakes for these leaders are high, however, with a new Salesforce survey showing that the majority of U.S. and U.K. respondents expect both business and government to make pledges to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Governments and businesses must step up their efforts
Support for laws and regulations that fight catastrophic climate change enjoy wide support by the general public — and global leaders are taking note. In fact, according to the Salesforce survey, nearly seven in 10 (69%) of U.S. and U.K. adults believe governments should prioritize climate policy; and 64% of U.S. and U.K. adults say emissions targets should be mandated by law.
For example, Salesforce has publicly supported the climate investments outlined in the proposed U.S. budget reconciliation package. These include the robust investment in coastal restoration and resilience projects that would create jobs and help sequester carbon, all while protecting coastal communities from the escalating climate crisis and the REPLANT Act, bipartisan legislation which would put 1.2 billion trees in the ground to help fight climate change and create 49,000 jobs in the process.
In addition, Salesforce has also codified its commitment to climate advocacy by officially including climate as part of the company’s public policy platform, joining other priorities like security, privacy and human rights; and has called for mandatory climate disclosures, stating that companies should be required to publicly disclose their carbon emissions.
Businesses must expand sustainability actions outside of their four walls
The Salesforce survey also shows 73% of respondents agreeing that emissions reductions should be factored into business strategy and operating models. Salesforce, for example, has been on a sustainability journey for over a decade to reach climate milestones such as achieving Net Zero and 100% renewable energy, and is pushing suppliers to ramp up their climate efforts by setting their own science-based targets.
What’s more, according to the Salesforce survey, businesses engaging in climate advocacy have the support of nearly two-thirds of the US and UK population.
How Salesforce is leveraging technology to drive climate action
Sixty-nine percent of survey respondents also say that every company should leverage technology to track and reduce emissions.
Salesforce continually looks for ways to innovate when it comes to carbon emissions reporting — for example, looking at how Salesforce’s carbon accounting process could be improved to deliver faster, better, and more accurate data.
The result was Sustainability Cloud, a Salesforce-built product that reduced a six-month reporting process to only six weeks. With Sustainability Cloud, companies big and small and across all industries can now track their carbon emissions and take meaningful climate action.
A 1.5°C future requires a global effort
Salesforce recognizes this is only the beginning of its own sustainability journey. There is more work to do to broaden its impact and inspire others to join and step up to the urgent challenge of climate change.
At COP26, leaders across industries and governments will be encouraged to use their platforms as strong voices for climate action, both by reducing their own impact and by using their voice to advocate for a more just, Net Zero future.
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