If one thing has excited me this past month, it’s been seeing climate policy take center stage in the platforms of numerous candidates on the campaign trail and watching the companies in our network enthusiastically embrace the next frontier -- climate policy.

It's hard to overstate how crucial policy advocacy is to addressing climate change. If all 371 companies that have made climate action commitments through the Collaborative reached carbon neutral operations (a day I look forward to celebrating!), it would mean an INCREDIBLE amount for the natural products industry. But to truly move the needle on climate change at the levels needed to address the scope of our current challenges, we have to look beyond just our industry. We'll need rigorous and comprehensive policy frameworks to encourage the transition to a clean energy economy and to support businesses in every sector to draw down their emissions.

That is why I encourage every company in our network to make a commitment to policy engagement. It’s also why I was absolutely THRILLED to see 179 registrants for our policy engagement webinar last week—the biggest turnout we’ve ever had for a Climate Collaborative webinar!

Experts from American Sustainable Business Council, Business Climate Leaders, Ceres, and Danone North America joined us as speakers—representing a masterclass of climate policy expertise. The webinar featured a deep dive on carbon pricing—the single clearest policy pathway for valuing the huge costs that carbon emissions are already having on our economy, and to encourage innovations in clean energy. I encourage you to watch it if you’ve ever had questions about what a carbon price is or why we need one at the federal level. You’ll learn a lot about the different ways a carbon price can be structured, and how we can use the revenue to benefit our economy and spur innovation. Our speakers shared some key takeaways on how all of us can be doing more to advocate for ambitious climate policy frameworks.

So what can you do to advance climate-friendly policies? 

• Start by making a policy commitment through the Climate Collaborative!
• Get involved with NGOs doing great work, like the American Sustainable Business Council, Business Climate Leaders, and Ceres. Use their expertise and resources to expand what you can do.
• Talk to policymakers!
  • Attend the upcoming Lawmaker Education and Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill on May 21-22. As a business representative, your voice is particularly powerful.
  • Meet with your members of Congress to share your concerns and explain your position on climate. This is not as scary as it might sound -- tell them your story, why your business cares about climate change, and what you are doing already. Then tell them about what policies you want to see. I bet you’ll enjoy it!
• Support climate policies in your state and encourage other businesses in your area to do the same!
  • See how Mountain Rose Herbs is doing this through natural products industry collaboration in Oregon
• Sign on to support bills and op-eds that support carbon pricing and other climate legislation in your state and at the federal level. You can start by choosing issues relevant to your footprint and business, like agricultural policy.

I hope you’ll all continue this climate policy journey with us! I can’t think of anything more critical for businesses to be doing to push forward ambitious climate action at scale—across and beyond our industry. Chris Adamo, VP of Federal and Industry Affairs at Danone, summed it up perfectly, saying “This is doable. A clean energy economy is already happening…and it’s good for our bottom line.”