The U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) continues to play an important role in guiding the American business community – in developing and investing in innovative solutions, and as a partner in establishing sound policies to guide the transition to a low carbon economy.

Economic growth and environmental progress are not mutually exclusive goals. There is much common ground among all stakeholders – citizens, government, and business — to come together to promote a sustainable economic recovery and long-term climate polices that are flexible, predictable and durable.

Shortly after his inauguration the Biden administration announced plans to,

  • Re-enter the Paris agreement,
  • Create a new climate action plan for federal agencies,
  • Elevate the climate crisis as a threat to national security,
  • Reform the broken oil and gas system through a pause on new leasing on public lands, and
  • Set a goal of conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands and ocean by 2030.

The Chamber has reached out to Key White House staff around these initiatives and expressed strong interest in collaborating and offering a credible platform for engaging the business community.

Considering the above, the Chamber invited John Podesta, former White House Chief of Staff, to participate in a March 9, 2021 roundtable discussion with industry leaders on the Biden Administration’s climate agenda. Podesta founded the Center for American Progress; served as Counselor to President Barack Obama (where he was responsible for coordinating the administrations climate policy initiatives) and served as White House Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton.

Ingrid Sinclair, global president of Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS), attended this event. In broad terms, the overarching message SLS gleaned from this meeting is that the United States is heavily re-engaging climate policy including:

  • The establishment of a 100 percent clean power sector by 2035,
  • The establishment of a net-zero economy goal by 2050, consistent with global goals of all the G7 and the majority of G20 countries that have already signed on to this,
  • Support for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and embody each country’s long-term efforts to reduce national emotions and adapt to the impacts of climate change,
  • The need for modern, resilient infrastructure, innovation, and technology (which can draw bipartisan support),
  • The promotion of increased private sector engagement in the energy transition, and
  • The investment of a large portion (40 percent) toward achieving these goals will go to disadvantaged communities.

Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of these long-term goals. NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement (Article 4, paragraph 2) requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve. Parties shall pursue domestic mitigation measures, with the aim of achieving the objectives of such contribution. The Chamber sent principles to White House leaders to provide our perspective regarding how best to ensure broad support for the U.S. NDC.

Learn about SLS’s environmental compliance services, visit https://www.simslifecycle.com/global/compliance/.