President Trump plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. But thousands of local governments, businesses, and other groups across the U.S are sending a different message:

Rabinovitch: “Well, the U.S. may not be in the Paris Accord, but we still are.”

Kevin Rabinovitch is with candy manufacturer Mars Incorporated, which is part of the We Are Still In coalition.

He says big companies can help drive climate action.

Rabinovitch: “We spend a lot of money buying inputs for our business – be that raw materials or packaging or energy or labor or transport.”

So investing in renewables or more sustainable supply chains can help transform the market, especially if other big companies are doing the same.

Rabinovitch: “When the U.S signed on to the Paris Accord along with essentially every other country on the planet, we were quite encouraged, because that is groupthink in a positive sense of, ‘We all agree there’s a problem. We all agree the direction we need to go to fix it.’”

He says the We Are Still In coalition has helped keep major players engaged, despite President Trump’s announcement.

Rabinovitch: “It effectively recreates some of that momentum and alignment …”

… and helps the U.S. continue taking climate action.

Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media.
Photo credit: Willian West / Unsplash.