Seattle Climate Partnership

What is the Seattle Climate Partnership?

In February of 2005, Mayor Greg Nickels challenged the Seattle community to meet or beat the global warming pollution reduction target of the Kyoto Protocol, and he appointed a Green Ribbon Commission on Climate Protection to develop recommendations for achieving that goal. One of the Commission’s key recommendations is the formation of the Seattle Climate Partnership—a voluntary pact among Seattle-area employers to take action to reduce their own emissions, and to work together to help meet the community-wide goal.

Twelve Seattle-area employers -- the Port of Seattle, Recreational Equipment Inc., the University of Washington, Starbucks Coffee Company, Urban Visions, Group Health, Lafarge Seattle, Shoreline Community College, Mithun, Garvey Schubert Barer, King County and the City of Seattle -- have come together to develop and grow the Partnership. These “founding partners” have drafted the Partnership Agreement (Acrobat PDF 38 kb) that spells out the Partners’ commitments. In addition, they are developing a suite of services for participating employers, including a robust technical assistance program, networking services, and a recognition program.

Why join the Seattle Climate Partnership?

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

In joining the Seattle Climate Partnership, Seattle-area employers are committing to take actions that will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while at the same time cutting costs, improving the work environment for their employees, and improving their record of corporate responsibility. In exchange for making -- and keeping! -- this commitment, Partners will receive a host of benefits, including high-quality technical assistance, access to utility incentive programs, opportunities for cost-saving collaborations such as joint purchasing arrangements, and recognition for a job well-done.

How can my organization get involved?

To explore your participation in the Seattle Climate Partnership, download the Partnership Agreement, or feel free to contact Charlie Cunniff (charlie.cunniff@seattle.gov or 206-386-9748) at the Office of Sustainability & Environment. For more information on the Mayor’s Green Ribbon Commission and its recommendations, please visit www.seattle.gov/climate/report.htm.

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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“Mithun fully supports this catalytic initiative to expand Seattle ’s positive leadership for a better world!”
Bert Gregory, Principal, Mithun