Seventh Generation Becomes the 100^th Company To Commit To Climate Action In Just Six Months – TWICE As Quickly As Expected

New York, NY, September 13, 2017 - Seventh Generation today became the 100^th company to commit to climate action through the Climate Collaborative, a project of OSC2 and the Sustainable Food Trade Association launched in March of 2017 to catalyze bold action on climate change among natural products companies.

The Vermont-based, leading natural cleaning and personal care products company has been prioritizing climate action for decades and has a company-wide goal of sourcing all energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2020. Today, as Natural Products Expo East—one of the leading natural products industry trade shows—kicks off in Baltimore, MD, the company announced additional climate commitments in packaging, renewable energy, policy engagement, and energy efficiency via the Climate Collaborative, joining more than 20 other companies in announcing new climate action commitments.

“Seventh Generation has always believed that business can serve as a powerful force for change,” said Ashley Orgain, Director of Mission Advocacy at Seventh Generation. “We’re proud to join the Climate Collaborative in ensuring our planet is protected for future generations. In an era when the federal government is moving in the wrong direction, we pledge to continue to do our part to ensure a just and speedy transition to a low carbon economy, supporting progressive policies that put a price on carbon pollution.”

Spurred by growing consumer demand for action on climate and by the U.S.’s recent decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement—as well as increasing recognition that climate change mitigation efforts are good for their bottom lines—natural products companies are committing to climate action far faster than expected, allowing the Climate Collaborative to exceed its Year One goal in less than six months. This growing list of leading companies in the industry includes Annie’s, Clif, Dr. Bronner’s, Happy Family, National Co+op Grocers, Nature’s Path, Organic Valley, Guayaki, Lotus Foods, Stonyfield, DanoneWave, and many more.

Newly announcing companies include MegaFood, the first vitamin company to make a commitment, whose CEO Robert Craven remarked upon joining, "We are very excited to join the Climate Collaborative tribe to help reverse the very real climate change threat.”

Companies in the industry have made over 400 commitments to climate action to date—to integrate carbon farming into their supply chains, switch to renewable power, reduce the climate impacts of their packaging, remove deforestation from their supply chains, engage on climate policy, and more. Companies like Clif are going one step further and engaging companies in their supply chain to take action, as well. 

Robynn Shrader, CEO of National Co+op Grocers stated “Through the Climate Collaborative, our industry is once again demonstrating that when we come together on an issue, we work quickly towards success. The fact that 100 companies have already stepped up in just six months shows that our industry not only recognizes the urgency for action, but is also willing to invest the time, energy and money needed to make meaningful progress on the climate challenge, the most consequential issue we’ve tackled yet.”

These commitments demonstrate that acting on climate is an urgent priority for the natural products industry and highlights the growing trend of corporate leadership on climate change. The recently released BSR State of Sustainable Business Survey by Globe Scan puts climate change as the number one sustainability priority (tied with human rights) of the 300 businesses surveyed, with 73% of respondents identifying it as a significant priority—a dramatic increase in prominence over recent years.

In the coming months, the Climate Collaborative will be expanding its programming to assist companies taking action with initiatives like its new carbon farming action group. The Collaborative aims to give an ever-growing number of companies the strategic connections, information, and practical solutions they need to accelerate their efforts to tackle climate change, minimizing the risk it poses to their businesses, and enabling them to take advantage of all the benefits that early action offers.

List of companies announcing today:

View the full list of committed companies here.

For more information contact: 
Erin Callahan
Director
+1-228-806-1593
[email protected]

About The Climate Collaborative 

The Climate Collaborative is a project of OSC2 and SFTA to catalyze bold climate action among natural products companies. The Climate Collaborative brings manufacturers, retailers, brokers, distributors, and suppliers together to build existing climate solutions to scale and to find innovative, new ways to help reverse climate change. Follow the Climate Collaborative on Facebook @climatecollab and on Twitter @ClimateColl.

About OSC2 
A community of sustainably focused natural products industry CEOs and business leaders, OSC2 was founded in the Bay area in January 2012 to build new regenerative businesses and agricultural solutions. With a carefully cultivated membership of over 40 mission driven brands, OSC2 regularly gathers established company CEOs, its new Rising Star CEO Chapter, marketing, supply chain, and finance working groups.  In addition, OSC2 hosts a Future of Food Speaker Series and OSC2 Natural Products University.  It has launched the Compostable Packaging collaborative and the Climate Collaborative as strategic industry projects. For more information, please visit http://www.osc2.org

About Sustainable Food Trade Association 
The mission of Sustainable Food Trade Association is to build the capacity of the organic food trade to transition to sustainable business models. SFTA serves as a hub for businesses to learn, improve performance, communicate results, share common metrics and best practices. Thus, defining and driving excellence in environmentally sound, socially just business practices using a systems-based approach. For more information, please visit http://www.sustainablefoodtrade.org