28 Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions

For giving big business its own climate collective

No one company can fight climate change alone. But eight of the world’s biggest businesses are betting they can make progress together. Amazon, The Walt Disney Co., Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Salesforce, Unilever and Workday combined forces in 2021 with the World Wildlife Fund, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the U.N. Environment Programme to create a new virtual collective aimed at radically accelerating climate solutions.

The goals for the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions (BASCS) extend far beyond offsetting emissions. To build an ecosystem of changemakers, the collective of heavy hitters is vowing to share ideas, resources and lessons learned "across and beyond value chains"—meaning they’ll be exerting some peer pressure to invest.

EDF Managing Director Elizabeth Sturcken called it "the kind of visionary leadership and action we need from the world’s biggest and most influential companies," saying the group "can help close the climate funding gap."

By creating a neutral space where companies can share what they learn, the founders are hoping to push business investment to the level necessary to achieve what they call a just and sustainable future.

"Transitioning to a low-carbon economy demands fundamental changes in the way society, including the private sector, operates and innovates," says Vijay Sudan, Disney’s executive director, enterprise social responsibility. "Collaborating with other members of BASCS will create opportunity to scale high-quality climate solutions necessary to drive a more sustainable future."