What’s next for the 100% renewable energy movement
Despite market barriers in Asia and setbacks in the U.S., more than 70 members of the Climate Group’s RE100 initiative match at least 90 percent of electricity consumption with solar, wind or other renewables. Read More
- As a collective, RE100 companies cover an average of 59 percent of their electricity with renewables, up from 53 percent in 2024.
- Corporate membership in the initiative has grown 60 percent since 2020, especially in Asia.
- Many are experiencing supply constraints in the U.S. and in South Korea, largely due to policy headwinds.
Ten years ago, HP Inc. pledged to match 100 percent of its global electricity with renewables by 2025, as part of an early wave of corporate commitments inspired by the Climate Group’s RE100 campaign.
In May, the tech company extended its self-imposed deadline to 2040, citing uncertain availability of qualifying power and challenging market conditions in certain regions where it does business.
Still, HP has made substantial progress in the past decade: As of its 2025 environmental report, HP matched 66 percent of its electricity consumption with renewables, up from 62 percent one year earlier.
HP’s struggles are not unique, according to RE100’s analysis of member disclosures through 2025, which represents 408 reporting companies. Many of these companies cited higher costs, limited supply and policy conditions, especially in South Korea, as obstacles to their progress.
“100 percent renewable is a really, really difficult target,” said Sam Kimmins, director of energy at Climate Group. “What’s great is that most companies are sticking with their values and sticking with their goal, despite those headwinds. Sure, some are pushing them out a little bit. … It shows that they’re being upfront about what challenges they are facing.”
Longevity required
RE100 was created in 2014. It requires members to commit to using 100 percent renewables for their operations by 2050. There are around 440 members; not all shared data for the progress report published Sept. 18.
Just one company so far, Meta, has stepped away from the initiative. The tech giant left in July “by mutual decision” because it could no longer meet some of RE100’s technical criteria.
As a collective, RE100 companies cover an average of 59 percent of their electricity with renewables, up from 53 percent in 2024 and enough power to run Spain for one year. Many are experiencing supply constraints in the U.S. and in South Korea, largely due to policy headwinds.
About 70 companies, however, now match at least 90 percent of their electricity consumption with renewables. That includes Nike, which reported Sept. 17 that it had reached its 100 percent renewables milestone.
“At Nike, we focus on the parts of our value chain where we can drive the greatest impact,” said Nike Chief Sustainability Officer Cimarron Nix in a statement. “That’s why renewable electricity is both an environmental priority and a supply chain opportunity.”
RE100 heads south and east
Corporate membership in the initiative has grown 60 percent since 2020, especially in Asia. RE100 members in South Korea, for example, represent about 10 percent of the nation’s overall electricity demand. Just 12 percent of that use is covered by renewables.
“Companies are joining us not just because it’s environmentally the right thing to do,” Kimmins said. “They want renewables because renewables represent energy security.”
New priority markets for recruitment include Indonesia, Mexico, South Africa and Thailand; RE100 will continue to prioritize India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
“The bigger the aggregated demand signal, the more change we can create, and we do have a direct line into at the minister level into most of the major economies in Asia,” he said.
Next-level commitment
Climate Group is also supporting an RE100-adjacent initiative, the 24/7 Carbon-Free Coalition. Launched in June, it represents companies that are developing programs to cover their electricity with “carbon-free energy” — which might include nuclear power — on an hourly basis.
Hourly matching requirements have been proposed as part of upcoming changes to the emissions accounting rules for electricity, which falls under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol’s Scope 2 category. But feedback on a draft circulated earlier this year showed limited support for that idea.
The eight launch members in the 24/7 coalition include AstraZeneca, Google and Unilever, which have pledged to publish information about how their companies approach this challenge, what works and what doesn’t. Others may join, but it’s not meant to be mainstream at the moment.
“We see the coalition as the pioneers who are testing this out,” Kimmins said.
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