‘Do That Right Now’: Salesforce CEO Demands Commitment To ‘Net Zero’ Emissions
Harold Hutchison on January 18, 2023
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said Wednesday that there needed to be an international commitment to reach “net zero” emissions at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
“I don’t think everybody realizes that we all have to do this,” Benioff during a panel discussion titled “Leading the Charge through Earth’s New Normal.” Other members of the panel included former Vice President Al Gore, musician Yo-Yo Ma, Fawn Sharp of the National Congress of American Indians and Colombian President Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego. “We all have to do number — step number one, we have to commit to be net-zero, we have to reduce our emissions. We have no choice. We just saw the evidence. This is the most important thing, we have to all make a commitment. We have to have intentionality, we have to decide what do we really want. We have to know we want to be a net-zero planet, we want to be a net-zero world.”
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“We have now commitments from all the folks here for 125 billion trees, but we’re still need to go to 875 billion more,” Benioff said. “The reason why is because we need to sequester 200 gigatons of carbon, we need to do that right now.”
Benioff, who threatened to boycott red states over abortion laws in 2022, has donated generously to Democrats and Democratic causes over the years, according to Vox. The company also banned retailers who sold certain semiautomatic firearms and magazines from using its products in 2019.
“How many folks here in this room are in an organization, company, country, that’s committed to a net zero strategy already? Would you raise your hands if you’re already committed to net zero? It’s — you know, it’s encouraging. It’s not everyone in the room, but it’s encouraging,” Benioff said. “I’ve been asking that of folks whenever I present, and it’s been increasingly going up. But it’s not everybody.”
Benioff also praised one company for trying to replace fertilizer with mushrooms, and celebrated a Hawaiian push for renewable energy. Sri Lanka and Ghana both faced economic collapse after pursuing efforts to reduce emissions reportedly linked to climate change, including reductions in the use of fertilizer in the former country that reduced food production by 50% while Ghana saw blackouts after shifting to renewable energy sources.
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