Finance & Investment Circular Economy Collaboration & Co-Creation

More Corporate Giants Join Forces to Improve, Scale Business Investments in Climate Solutions

Amazon, Disney, Google and Netflix are among the founding companies behind the Business Alliance for Scaling Climate Solutions (BASCS), to increase the scale and impact of business investment in climate solutions.

Published 3 years ago | About a 3 minute read

Image: Adam Kontor/Pexels

Today, hot on the heels of last month’s launch of the Climate Solutions Partnership — for which HSBC, WRI and WWF have banded together to unlock barriers to finance for innovators developing climate solutions — comes another coalition of organizations pooling their collective power to increase the scale and impact of business investment in climate solutions.

Led by founding businesses Amazon, Disney, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Salesforce, Unilever and Workday; with partners BSR, Environmental Defense Fund, United Nations Environment Programme, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF-US) , BASCS aims to disseminate information and opportunities for and from peers, practitioners and experts — including best practices, funding opportunities, and research and insights to scale and improve climate solutions.

Alongside ambitious emissions reductions (with many less ambitious than necessary) from their own carbon footprints, funding from businesses — including carbon credit purchases, philanthropy, and impact capital — will be critical in scaling investment in the climate solutions necessary to achieve a just and sustainable, 1.5°C future. The impact in play is enormous. For example, natural climate solutions have the potential for capital flows greater than $100 billion annually, with opportunity across the world and especially in the Global South.

While significant momentum exists and many organizations are already working with funding from businesses to deploy climate solutions, BASCS offers an opportunity to help connect and support these initiatives and the surrounding community of practice by providing a central, neutral platform for businesses and experts to meet, learn, discuss and act together.

“As part of our commitment to The Climate Pledge, Amazon is on our way to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040,” says Kara Hurst, VP of Worldwide Sustainability at Amazon. “We remain focused on driving decarbonization strategies throughout our business, as well as investing in additional and quantifiable natural climate solutions to remove carbon and tackle climate change. We look forward to continuing to work across sectors with BASCS to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.”

BASCS’ work will be grounded in 4 core principles:

Emissions reduction: BASCS members prioritize work to reduce their own emissions in line with a science-based target (e.g., through the SBTi) while pursuing other high-impact, climate-protective investments. Members will seek scalable solutions to help make hard-to-achieve reductions feasible in the future. Climate solutions funding is a complement rather than a substitute for science-based emissions reductions.
From ambition to action: BASCS members work to catalyze and deepen investments in global emissions reductions, avoided emissions and removals across and beyond value chains (e.g., mobilizing others in the corporate sector to invest).
Measurable impacts: BASCS members support applying sound and verified methodologies to ensure high social and environmental integrity of investments. Carbon credits claimed by companies must represent additional, quantifiable and verifiable emissions reductions or removals, and must not be double counted.
Co-benefits: BASCS members support investments that deliver environmental and social integrity and co-benefits and have strong safeguards, in addition to driving real greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Members will seek investments that quantify these co-benefits when possible.

Netflix Sustainability Officer Emma Stewart says: "Netflix has committed to achieve net-zero emissions by 2022. We will get there by reducing our internal emissions in line with climate science — and by investing in the power of nature to retain and reduce emissions from the atmosphere, starting with natural ecosystems like forests above and below water. Scaling up the highest-quality projects to retain and reduce emissions is best done collaboratively — which is why we look forward to this timely, collective effort taking flight."

BASCS seeks to serve and engage all organizations working to scale and improve climate solutions opportunities for business investment. To learn more and engage with the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, please visit scalingclimatesolutions.org.