TAKE THE PLEDGE

We pledge to support the goals of this initiative in the following ways:

Business for Climate Finance (BCF) has the goal to help companies achieve their climate goals by decarbonizing corporate bank accounts and employee retirement plans, starting with a group of leading U.S. companies. The goals of this effort include moving capital towards climate friendly lending at minority depository institutions, credit unions, B Corp banks, and other climate-friendly lenders, as well as towards climate friendly retirement investment funds. Using a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) lens, the initiative is action oriented and focused on solutions development. B4CF acknowledges that some solutions may arise as a result of convening the actors in this space, which can leverage their deposit and retirement savings matching power in unforeseen ways. Over $8.4 trillion in assets are held in 110 million 401(k) employee retirement plans across the United States and the S&P 500 non-financial companies are holding a record $2.7 trillion in cash and investments. The cash holdings of many of the largest companies in the U.S.  are their largest sources of emissions; increasing total emissions by 91% - 112%, when compared to most recently reported emissions. These assets and deposits due not only present a climate liability, but they most importantly present an opportunity for non-financial companies to reach a true net zero and maximize climate impact.

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We pledge to join and contribute to a community of practice focused on decarbonizing bank accounts and employee retirement plans by creating and sharing solutions and engaging in actions that will decrease the adverse impact of investments on environmental and social sustainability.

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We pledge to explore ways in which scope 3, category 15 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol can be integrated as part of our climate commitments and we commit to considering pathways forward for retirement account offerings and bank deposits.