Seattle Climate Partnership

One of the recommendations from the Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection is the formation of the Seattle Climate Partnership. The Partnership will be modeled after the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement: employers participating in the Partnership will commit to take a series of actions to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and help achieve the community-wide target.

Employers are in a unique and powerful position to reduce global warming pollution - not only from their own operations but also from their suppliers, customers, and employees. Since most of this pollution comes from the use of fossil fuels such as gasoline, diesel and natural gas, employers can make a huge difference by making climate-friendly decisions about how they use energy in their buildings, how they transport goods and services, and how they influence their employees transportation choices.

The Partnership will create a strong collaboration among Seattle-area employers that will help achieve the community-wide climate protection goals by increasing the number of public and private institutions that are taking actions to reduce global warming pollution. This will create a dynamic network of institutions that support each others successes by sharing information, resources, and ideas.

To jump start the Partnership, seven businesses and institutions have agreed to be founding partners - Port of Seattle, Recreational Equipment Inc., University of Washington, Starbucks Coffee Company, Urban Visions, Lafarge Seattle, and the City of Seattle. The founding partners have committed to work together to draft the Seattle Climate Partnership Agreement, recruit additional employers to the partnership, and provide direction on training materials and a resource guide. A final Agreement is expected by the end of April which will be followed by a Business Leaders Summit in early summer 2006 and trainings for businesses on how to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions in late summer 2006 and early fall 2006.

For more information about the Partnership contact the Office of Sustainability and Environment at 206-615-0817 or ose@seattle.gov.

What the Founding Partners are saying

"Meeting the Kyoto target, and becoming the nation's most climate-friendly city, will require the ultimate team effort. Every household and business in our community will need to play a part. The Seattle Climate Partnership will be a key part of this effort. Through this unique community Partnership, the City will join with other major employers throughout the Seattle area to share expertise and experience, and take action together to meet our climate protection goals. I believe this collaborative approach will be a model for other cities across the country."
-- Mayor Greg Nickels, City of Seattle

"Starbucks believes that meaningful action must be taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are pursuing three main elements to mitigate our own emissions: purchasing renewable energy certificates to offset 20 percent of the energy used in our US and Canada operated stores, focusing on energy conservation activities at all our stores, and advocating the need for collaborative action on climate change. In the spirit of collaboration, we are excited to work with the City and other founding partners to develop the Seattle Climate Partnership Agreement."
-- Ben Packard, Director of Environmental Affairs, Starbucks

“Climate change is an issue of increasing importance to our environment, our community and REI's business. As an outdoor recreation company and as a co-op made up of employees and members who value the outdoors, we are concerned about the impacts of human induced changes to our environment. We have made a commitment to a long term process of sustainability that asks us to make business decisions that consider the financial, environmental and social impacts or our actions. Reducing our Green House Gas emissions is part of that effort. We believe that the Seattle Climate Partnership is a great way to work together with others to address difficult problems and find collaborative solutions. We appreciate the opportunity Mayor Nickels and the Green Ribbon Commission have created to act locally in addressing climate change.”
-- Kevin Hagen, Corporate Social Responsibility Program Manager, REI

“Lafarge is dedicated to Preserving and Protecting the environment. Lafarge is already committed to reducing CO2 emissions world wide to combat the threat of climate change. Partnering with the City of Seattle and other founding partners to develop the Seattle Climate Partnership Agreement is therefore a natural fit with our current efforts. We believe by working together the major employers in the Region can help achieve the community-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
-- Tom Crowninshield, Seattle Plant Manager, Lafarge North America

“Climate change is one of the most significant challenges of our time, and the scientific consensus is that most of the observed global warming in temperatures over the last 50 years is likely to have been due to the human-induced increase in greenhouse gas concentrations… Recognizing that leadership is fundamental to ensure a legacy for the future and to protect the healthy and safe learning and working environments valued by the UW, we look forward to working with the founding partners of the Seattle Climate Partnership, including the City of Seattle, to promote the community-wide goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 7% below 1990 levels by 2012.”
-- Mark A. Emmert, PhD, President, University of Washington

“Our company understands the need to work together with the entire community to bring about change. This is especially true as it relates to reducing our community-wide greenhouse gas emissions. We are committed to finding creative solutions in our operations to reduce greenhouse emissions along with working with other businesses to find solutions that make sense. We believe the Seattle Climate Partnership will be an excellent mechanism to help businesses find creative solutions and are excited about working with other founding partners to develop an Agreement. ”
-- Greg Smith, Principal, Urban Visions

“Over the past several months, we have watched with great interest and appreciation the success of the US Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement. We too, are committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and we applaud your leadership and accomplishments…. We believe an opportunity now exists for all sectors of our community to come together to work toward common goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are excited at the prospect of working with the City of Seattle and other local and regional employers to develop a Seattle Climate Partnership”.
-- M.R. Dinsmore, CEO, Port of Seattle