MINNEAPOLIS, MN— September 15, 2021 – The Climate Collaborative today announced that more than 160 businesses from across the U.S. have joined together in the #Call4ClimateNOW campaign, the first of its kind, to rally the American public to urge our nation’s lawmakers to address the climate emergency.

During the months of September and October, companies will encourage their customers to join them by calling their lawmakers in Congress and asking them to support bold climate action at the scale of the crisis. This is the first time a group of businesses has come together, each partnering with their consumers, to call members of Congress about this issue. The #Call4ClimateNow campaign is spearheaded by The Climate Collaborative in partnership with Ceres, B Lab, Snowsports Industries America, the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), and 1% for the Planet.

“Companies are feeling the urgency of climate change, so they are speaking out in ways they never have before,” explained Nancy Hirshberg, Co-founder of The Climate Collaborative. “After a summer of climate fueled disasters including fire, drought, floods and hurricanes, CEOs feel compelled to act. This summer we also heard decisively from scientists that we have a small window of time in which to turn this crisis around, before it gets much worse and much more costly.”

In the past three months, nearly 1 in 3 Americans experienced living in a county hit by a weather disaster, according to the latest analysis of federal disaster declarations by the Washington Post. When the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) released its scientific report in August, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the report “a code red for humanity” noting “there is no time for delay or room for excuses.”

“It is time for Congress to act on the climate crisis with urgency and commitment,” said Sally Grimes, CEO, Clif Bar & Company. “We are calling on our Senators and Representatives to pass meaningful legislation to address the scale and impact of the climate emergency we are facing. The health of our communities, our businesses, and the next generation depends on it.”

The more than 160 companies that have joined the #Call4ClimateNOW campaign come from a wide variety of sectors, including food and beverage, tourism and hospitality, personal care products, outdoor industry, clean energy and more. Many have already seen the negative impact of climate change on their business firsthand.

“The lifeblood of the travel business is already at risk,” concluded Jared Meyers, CEO and Founder of Legacy Vacation Resorts. “I wonder how many more years people will want to come visit beaches blighted by red tide or visit mountains with no snow or hike forests filled with smoke from wildfires? We see the effects of climate change right now on our business and it will be catastrophic for us if it is not addressed.”

“If climate change continues at the current rate, it will be enormously challenging for the tea industry,” predicted Reem Hassani, Co-Founder of Numi Tea.  “It impacts every part of our business from the health and welfare of our farmer partners to the sourcing of our ingredients. One study shows that the amount of arable land available for tea cultivation will be drastically reduced by 2050 due to climatic changes in tea growing regions.”

“Entire industries like ours are at risk if we don’t act,” said Chris Steinkamp, Head of Advocacy for Snowsports Industries America. “Our $76 billion industry is dependent on consistent winter seasons which have already become shorter, and climate impacts are already disrupting business across our supply chains and retail networks.”

“Until now, only a handful of businesses have had a dialogue with their millions of consumers about climate change or mobilized them as partners in climate advocacy,” shared Kim Coupounas, Head of Impact for B Lab, a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good around the world. “If there is ever a time for all of us to speak up, it is now. We no longer have the luxury of just worrying about climate – or paying it lip service in our marketing materials. We must act.”

About The Climate Collaborative

The Climate Collaborative is an independent not-for-profit organization that works to catalyze bold climate action among businesses in the $280 billion natural products industry and beyond, to put our nation and our world on a path to solving the climate crisis and creating a healthier, more just and equitable world. The #Call4ClimateNow campaign is a collaboration with partners Ceres, B Lab, 1% for the Planet, Snowsports Industries America and the American Sustainable Business Council.

About #Call4ClimateNOW

The following organizations and businesses have committed to reach out to their stakeholders to urge them to call their lawmakers in Washington, D.C. to ask them to support bold climate action at this critical moment in history.  See which companies have signed on here.

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