Remember the time we gave Samsung stores a makeover…
Greenpeace activists protest Samsung to commit to using 100% clean energy. The environmental activists hang a 40m2 banner over a Samsung advertisement on the walls of the Berlin Palace that reads: ‘Go 100% renewable energy now!’.
Or when we did this…
Greenpeace activists in Taipei called out Samsung for sponsoring this year’s Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, which are touted to be powered by 100% renewable energy. Renewables account for only 1% of Samsung Electronics’ total energy consumption.
And remember when you shared this?
After months of people-powered actions around the world, Samsung Electronics finally accepted our challenge to #DoWhatYouCant and taken the first steps towards 100% renewable energy! This is great news for our planet and the hundreds of thousands of people around the world taking action for a renewably powered future.
So what exactly has Samsung committed to?
1) A 100% renewable energy commitment in the US, China and Europe by 2020 (including all its own manufacturing factories).
2) Onsite installation of solar and geothermal energy in Korea, near its Hwaseong, Pyongtaek, and Suwon semiconductor plants. Samsung also supports the government’s national strategic plan to increase the country’s renewable energy use by 20% by 2030
3) Join the CDP’s (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) supply chain program next year, which helps to identify and manage climate change risks, to lead change in their supply chain.
See Samsung’s full statement here.
What does this mean?
This is a really important first step for Samsung to reduce its massive global manufacturing footprint. Just imagine, in 2016 alone, the tech giant’s energy consumption amounted to 16,000GWh, that’s the same as the Dominican Republic! This could help drive a faster transition away from fossil fuels like coal countries like China and South Korea.
If we see more ambitious actions from companies like Samsung and a shared responsibility then there is still time for us to turn the corner and build the renewably powered future we urgently need.
What is key now is to make sure Samsung follows through on this commitment with meaningful actions that actually lead to more renewable energy and expands this same level of ambition to other key regions like Vietnam.
With your help, we will be watching to make sure they do! For now though help us celebrate the good news!
TWEET THE GOOD NEWS!
Insung Lee is IT Campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia