RE100, an initiative of The Climate Group in partnership with CDP, launched its first report, RE100: The journey to 100%, on the opening day of the World Future Energy Summit, at an event organised in partnership with Masdar and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). At the event, representatives of some of the 15 major companies that have already signed up to RE100 highlighted the business and wider environmental benefits of switching to renewables. Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group, said: “Investing in renewable energy is good for business, the economy and the planet. That’s why we’ve committed to match 100% of our energy use with our own renewable energy generation by 2020 and have allocated EUR 1.5 billion to take us closer to this goal. Every business can benefit from making the switch to clean, abundant energy and RE100 is a call to action to accelerate this transition.” Claus Conzelmann, Vice President and Head of Safety, Health & Environmental Sustainability, Nestlé Group, added: “RE100 is fully aligned with Nestlé’s explicit commitments, which reflect our respect for the society in which we operate, respect for the environment, and respect for future generations.” The event Renewable power: the journey to 100% is testament to the growing interest for renewable power from corporates. The panel, which also included Dolf Gielen, Director of IRENA’s Innovation and Technology Centre, Anthony Mallows, Director of Masdar, Michael Liebreich, Founder and Chairman of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Juerg Trueb, Head of Environmental and Commodity Markets, Swiss Re, also discussed the challenges faced by businesses in their journey to 100% renewable power and how to overcome them. Emily Farnworth, RE100 Campaign Director, The Climate Group, said: “The development of a thriving, global market for authentic renewable power will be a game-changer in emissions reductions and will drive a transition to a low carbon economy. Business leadership is essential to making this change happen.” Produced by The Climate Group and CDP, the report Renewable power: the journey to 100% features case studies from RE100 corporate partners. Its main findings are: Solar PV is the most popular renewable power technology for corporates. Heavy industry, construction and manufacturing sectors are the biggest investors in renewable energy, led by those in Europe. Consumer products, manufacturing and heavy industry sectors are getting the best financial returns. RE100 was launched at Climate Week NYC on September 22, 2014. Fifteen companies have now joined the campaign and made a public commitment to going 100% renewable. In addition to IKEA Group and Nestlé, RE100 brings together BT Group, Commerzbank, Formula E, H&M, KPN, Mars, Philips, Reed Elsevier Group, J. Safra Sarasin Bank, SAP, SGS, Swiss Re and YOOX Group. The two latest companies to join are SAP, a Germany-based global market leader in enterprise application software and SGS, a leading global inspection, verification, testing and certification company based in Switzerland. Daniel Schmid, Chief Sustainability Officer of SAP SE said: “At the beginning of 2014, SAP announced its commitment to 100% renewable electricity in its data centers and facilities, which allowed us to expand our competitiveness in the cloud software market while further enhancing our sustainability leadership. Joining RE100 is a natural step and we are happy to share our practical experience with global sustainability leaders as well as to discuss challenges and opportunities associated with renewable energy.” Daniel Rüfenacht, Group Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, SGS, said: “We decided on a 100% renewable power approach by 2020 as part of our wider commitment to being a carbon neutral company. At SGS, we are on a journey to reduce our carbon emissions and minimize our impact on climate change. By 2020, we plan to have reduced our annual CO2 emissions by 20% on a 2014 baseline through improved energy efficiency and by switching to low carbon options including renewable energy sources. In addition, we offset all residual CO2 emissions to maintain our status as a carbon neutral company.”