Press Release
August 13, 2012
Contact: Laura Rehrmann, 703-516-0621, press@c2es.org
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) announced today that CBRE Group, Inc. has joined the C2ES Business Environmental Leadership Council (BELC) and its efforts to address the twin challenges of energy and global climate change.
“Buildings provide a huge energy efficiency opportunity, and as the global commercial real estate leader, CBRE will join other BELC members delivering effective solutions that work for the environment and the economy,” said C2ES President Eileen Claussen. “The BELC’s growth from 13 original members in 1998 to 36 today is a testament to the business community’s commitment to addressing climate change. CBRE recognizes that this issue isn’t going away, and we commend them for taking an active role in helping to meet our climate and energy challenges.”
CBRE adopted a new environmental sustainability policy in July 2012 committing to measure and report its internal carbon footprint as well as supply chain emissions by 2013. The company will also develop standards and policies to reduce energy and resource consumption and waste production and report those results. For areas under the company’s control, CBRE will establish annual reduction targets and verify progress through continued development of environmental management programs. It is also taking steps to establish at least 70 percent of its corporate facilities over 20,000 square feet in space or buildings with recognized green building standards by 2017.
“Our partnership with C2ES is a reflection of our longstanding, leading environmental commitment,” says Larry Midler, CBRE’s Executive Vice President responsible for the company’s Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability programs. “At CBRE, we recognize the responsibility that comes with our industry leadership position. We look forward to engaging with C2ES and other businesses in the BELC to advance solutions related to climate change.”
The BELC is the largest U.S.-based association of corporations focused on addressing the challenges of climate change. Launched in 1998 with 13 companies, the BELC now has 36 members representing over $2 trillion in combined revenue and more than 3.5 million employees. Membership includes mainly Fortune 500 companies representing a diverse group of industries including energy, automobiles, manufacturing, chemicals, metals, mining, forest products, consumer goods and high technology. Individually and collectively, these companies are demonstrating that it is possible to take action to address energy and climate challenges while maintaining competitive excellence, growth, and profitability.
The BELC members are: Air Products & Chemicals, Alcoa, Alstom, American Water, AREVA, Bank of America, Bayer, BP, CBRE, Cummins, Daimler, Delta Air Lines, Dominion, Dow Chemical Company, DTE Energy, Duke Energy, DuPont, Entergy, Exelon Corporation, GE, GM, HP, Holcim, IBM, Intel, Johnson Controls, National Grid, NextEra Energy, NRG Energy, PG&E Corporation, PNM Resources, Rio Tinto, Shell, Toyota, TransAlta, and Weyerhaeuser.
For more information about global climate change and the activities of C2ES and the BELC, visit www.c2es.org.
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About C2ES
The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) is an independent non-profit, non-partisan organization promoting strong policy and action to address the twin challenges of energy and climate change. Launched in November 2011, C2ES is the successor to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.
About CBRE
CBRE Group, Inc. (NYSE:CBG), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Los Angeles, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services firm (in terms of 2011 revenue). The company has approximately 34,000 employees (excluding affiliates), and serves real estate owners, investors and occupiers through more than 300 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. CBRE offers strategic advice and execution for property sales and leasing; corporate services; property, facilities and project management; mortgage banking; appraisal and valuation; development services; investment management; and research and consulting. Please visit our Web site at www.cbre.com.