Time to watch Samsung Do Bigger Things

by Insung Lee

Greenpeace East Asia Seoul activists project messages onto Samsung’s Giheung semiconductor plant, reading “Samsung, #DoWhatYouCant. Go 100% renewables” Greenpeace has been demanding the tech giant to commit to 100% renewable energy and show leadership on climate action. © David Jaemin Byun / Greenpeace

Just a few months ago you helped us convince Samsung, the world’s biggest electronics company, to join the tide of businesses championing renewable energy. In June, this South Korean giant announced the first steps towards moving its huge (and growing) production lines from relying on fossil fuels to being powered by renewables .
With the bout of extreme weather happening across the globe right now, Samsung’s announcement gives a glimmer of climate hope for the global movement to switch to renewables as fast as possible. It was also huge news in South Korea, Samsung’s home country, where the government has embarked on an ambitious plan to transition away from nuclear and fossil fuels.

Meaningful actions from powerful companies like Samsung are crucial if we are to stop catastrophic climate change.

At this point in the game, we simply can’t afford anything less than ambitious action, so at Greenpeace East Asia, we have spelt out the exact steps Samsung needs to take in order to meet its promise to power its factories in China, in the US and in Europe with renewable energy.
Given Samsung prides itself on leadership, innovation and imagining the impossible, we believe it can do even more – by becoming a true pioneer for renewables at a time when the world could really do with some. This means moving to renewable energy not just in China, the US and Europe, as Samsung announced in June, but also in South Korea and in Vietnam where it also has operations. To make it even easier for Samsung we underlined exactly what they need to do in each region, and have sent this report to the key decision makers at the company.
It isn’t going to be easy but we have to believe that with courage, ambition, and concrete action we can stop climate change. Just recently Facebook announced that by 2020 ALL of its global operations will be powered by 100% renewable energy. With your help, we are going to do everything in our power to ensure that more companies like Samsung and Facebook do their part to make a renewably powered world a reality.
Insung Lee is a campaigner for Greenpeace East Asia