Ben & Jerry’s

Why do you care about the climate?

We understand that climate change is not only the single biggest threat to our planet’s ecosystems and species, it is an existential threat to all life on the Earth.

As a for profit ice cream company, we’re part of the problem, but we’ve committed ourselves to be a catalyst for solutions, both within our business and at the economy wide policy level. As an activist business we want to galvanise the power of people to call on their leaders to make radical and significant changes on the issue of climate justice.

We’ve been campaigning for issues of equality and justice for as long as we’ve been scooping ice cream, and climate change is as much about justice as it is about greenhouse gases. Because while climate change affects us all, it doesn’t affect us all equally.

It is cruel irony that frontline and indigenous communities that had no role in creating this problem, are those that are already being impacted first and worst by climate change. We must place issues of fairness and justice at the centre of our demands.

We also see the impacts of climate change on the many people we’re connected with as a business, including our Fairtrade suppliers in the global south, who are at real risk from a warming planet. We have a responsibility to use our platform to advocate for a new future.

What action do you want to see from our leaders?

We’re fierce advocates for policies that rapidly decarbonize the global economy consistent with the latest science. We will continue to use our influence as a company and the connection we have with our fans to advocate for the following policies:

• Put a price on carbon
• Reduce carbon emissions (which means reducing fossil fuels) by at least 45% by 2030
• Transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050
• Stop using coal entirely
• Leave fossil fuels in the ground
• Divest fully from the fossil fuel industry
• Stop deforestation of old growth tropical forests
• Adopt regenerative agriculture practices that restore and maintain soil health and sequester carbon.
• Ensure support for developing countries’ mitigation and adaptation