Today, I had the pleasure of joining Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky on a trip to Washington, DC to discuss climate change. Alex was invited to a round table discussion with President Obama and several other businesses to talk about the impact and influence business can have on our environment. As part of this visit, we’re also proud to announce Johnson & Johnson is joining the White House American Business Act on Climate Pledge. Across Johnson & Johnson we aspire to:
- Reduce absolute carbon emissions 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 1
- Produce/Procure 20% of electricity from clean/renewable sources by 2020 and aspire to power all of our facilities with renewable energy by 2050
As the lead for the Global Energy Program at Johnson & Johnson, I am motivated and inspired each day of the global impact we can make given the size and expanse of our businesses. The great thing about working for Johnson & Johnson is that Our Credo provides us with a clear and compelling reminder that we must be good citizens in the global community. This includes protecting the environment and ensuring the responsible use of natural resources.
Operating over 200 global businesses across Johnson & Johnson requires a continuous flow of raw material, fuel, electricity, and many other resources to bring our products to market. Each day, we work to continuously improve our energy efficiency, lower our environmental footprint and partner on innovative approaches. I can tell you first hand that we take this work to heart. As the world’s largest and most broadly-based health care company, our mission is to help people live longer, healthier and happier lives, and we understand the intrinsic link between a healthy environment and human health.
Johnson & Johnson began its formal energy management program more than 30 years ago and we continue to strive to be an industry leader in energy efficiency and clean energy. In 2000, we established our first enterprise-wide, public commitment to reduce CO2 emissions. After achieving this and subsequent goals, we are motivated to deliver on our latest energy commitments.
And, we are well on our way. We’ve already initiated a number of changes. In the past year alone, we’ve increased on-site renewable and clean-technology energy capacity by installing two wind turbines on our properties in Cork Ireland, two fuel cells on our properties in California, and solar arrays on our properties in Puerto Rico.
In terms of innovative partnerships, we’ve participated as a signature on the Corporate Renewable Energy Buyers Principles launched by the World Wildlife Fund and World Resources Institute in the US, and joined the Rocky Mountain Institutes, Business Renewables Center which are both focused on resolving challenges to give corporations better access to renewable energy options.
Recently, in concurrence with Climate Week in NYC, we also officially announced that we have joined RE100 with the aspiration to power all of our facilities with renewable energy. We are happy to be the first health care company to join the ranks of other prominent businesses that have made this pledge. Together, we believe business can play an important and influential role in lowering carbon emissions so we can leave a better, healthier world for the next generation.
Jed Richardson is the Global Energy Director for Johnson & Johnson, responsible for the enterprise energy program strategy and implementation. Jed owns several public sustainability goals related to greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy. He also has responsibility for the company’s energy procurement strategy and execution. During his 15 years with J&J he has held a number of diverse engineering and operations management positions, and has been responsible for developing and managing numerous supply and demand side energy and utility projects at various J&J locations throughout the world.
1 Absolute Carbon Emissions include Scope 1 and Scope 2 sources, baseline year is 2010
2 Renewable energy generated includes solar photovoltaic, geothermal, and wind.
3 Clean energy generated includes cogeneration systems & fuel cells