BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy) today announced that outdoor apparel company Patagonia and dietary supplement provider New Chapter have joined the BICEP coalition to advocate for innovative climate and clean energy policies.

As founding signatories of BICEP’s Climate Declaration, a statement urging U.S. policymakers to capture the American economic opportunities of addressing climate change, both firms are extending their strong existing ties with BICEP’s advocacy activities and will continue their advocacy efforts as the U.S begins to act on climate change.

Through initiatives such as the Footprint Chronicles and Common Threads, as well as company environmental campaigns, Patagonia fulfills its mission to “build the best product, do no unnecessary harm and use business to inspire solutions to the environmental crisis.” The company designates one percent of sales each year to support grassroots environmental groups and projects, totaling more than $5 million in 2012 and over $55 million in cash and in kind donations since 1985. In addition, Patagonia uses transparency in its supply chain and day-to-day business practices to help reduce adverse social and environmental impacts on an industrial scale.

“Patagonia is proud to join colleagues in BICEP to advocate for meaningful energy and climate policies,” said Hans Cole, Patagonia’s Environmental Campaigns and Advocacy Manager. “Together, the companies in BICEP are communicating a critical message to the world: that fighting climate change is a business and economic opportunity. Most importantly, as David Brower said, ‘There’s no business to be done on a dead planet.’”

New Chapter has been working toward an organic, sustainable world since its inception in 1982. Their guiding principles include advancing the organic mission and nourishing the body with the natural intelligence of whole food. New Chapter was the very first vitamin and supplement company to be Non-GMO Project verified. The company currently composts, recycles or reuses more than 85 percent of the waste it produces and is taking steps to cut is carbon footprint through efficient energy use.

“At New Chapter, we want our customers and our fellow citizens to lead healthy, productive lives, but our current climate and energy policies aren’t putting the country on a sustainable path,” said Sara Newmark, Director of Sustainability at New Chapter. “No matter how strong our own environmental commitments may be, we know they won’t be enough on their own. We look forward to partnering with BICEP to urge policymakers to act on climate change and make effective and necessary policy changes. ”

BICEP, a project of Ceres, launched in 2008 with a core group of five companies, including Starbucks, Nike and Levi Strauss. & Co. It has since expanded to include leading companies representing the IT, apparel and professional sports sectors, such as CA Technologies, Limitedbrands and the Portland Trail Blazers. BICEP members have been vocal proponents of renewable energy, greener transportation and stricter pollution controls on power plants.

“With each new member, BICEP’s message gets stronger and stronger, but it stays the same: Businesses need policymakers to act on climate change,” said Anne Kelly, director of BICEP. “We are beginning to see positive signs of action from President Obama on the issue of climate change. We welcome those developments and reiterate that Patagonia, New Chapter and the dozens of other businesses who have signed the Climate Declaration will be there to back any policymaker that takes up solutions to the climate crisis.”

Over the course of an ongoing campaign organized by Ceres and BICEP, other businesses, as well as individuals, are encouraged to sign the Climate Declaration and join BICEP in the call to action. For more information about the Climate Declaration, please visit www.climatedeclaration.us.

Detailed descriptions of sustainability efforts within Patagonia and New Chapter are available at http://www.patagonia.com/us/environmentalism and http://www.newchapter.com/sustainability/organic.

About Ceres

Ceres is an advocate for sustainability leadership. Ceres mobilizes a powerful coalition of investors, companies and public interest groups to accelerate and expand the adoption of sustainable business practices and solutions to build a healthy global economy. Ceres also directs the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network of 100 institutional investors with collective assets totaling more than $11 trillion. For more information, visit http://www.ceres.org

About BICEP

BICEP (Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy) is an advocacy coalition of businesses committed to working with policy makers to pass meaningful energy and climate legislation enabling a rapid transition to a low-carbon, 21st century economy – an economy that will create new jobs and stimulate economic growth while stabilizing our planet’s fragile climate. BICEP is a project of Ceres. For more information, visit www.ceres.org/bicep.

Ceres

Ceres

Our Mission: Ceres is transforming the economy to build a just and sustainable future for people and the planet. 

Ceres is a nonprofit organization working with the most influential capital market leaders to solve the world’s greatest sustainability challenges. Through our powerful networks and global collaborations of investors, companies, and nonprofits, we drive action and inspire equitable market-based and policy solutions throughout the economy to build a just and sustainable future. For more information, visit ceres.org and follow @CeresNews. 

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