Ceres BICEP Awards Celebrate Bright Spots in 2020 Corporate Climate Advocacy

Each year, the Ceres BICEP Network honors individuals and companies who helped us continue to raise the bar on climate advocacy. This year, we once again gathered for a virtual celebration to toast the 2021 BICEP award winners and the many policy wins we achieved together. 

It has no doubt been a challenging year—from the COVID-19 pandemic to a vital reckoning on racial injustice, a struggling economy, and the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change. Despite these challenges, climate action continued gaining momentum—thanks in large part to this year's honorees. 

Our tremendous group of leaders spoke up when it mattered most, effectively advocating for climate, clean energy and transportation policies at the state and federal level and helping rack up important wins.

The 2021 Internal Champion award goes to Michael Millstein, manager, global policy and advocacy, Levi Strauss & Co. This award is given to an individual who demonstrates steadfast commitment within their company to championing the vital importance of climate and clean energy policy advocacy. Michael is an instrumental part of the Ceres BICEP Network Steering Committee, and this last year he worked tirelessly to mobilize Levi Strauss & Co on clean transportation policies to decarbonize high-emitting medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles.

The 2021 Most Valuable Player Award goes to Hugh Welsh, president and general counsel, DSM North America. This MVP award is given to an individual or company that has demonstrated stellar leadership and commitment to move our shared climate and clean energy policy agenda forward on behalf of company goals, sector peers and society at large. Without fail, Hugh is among the first to sign up and show up for advocacy opportunities at both the state and federal levels. He has been a critical voice in championing the Transportation and Climate Initiative and urging Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Hugh has also championed C-suite climate advocacy in Washington, D.C., participating in LEAD on Climate 2020, the largest ever call to action on climate to members of Congress, and speaking with the media to call for making climate action a key piece of the pandemic recovery. 

The Emerging Leader award winner this year is Ball Corporation for its dedication to becoming an unstoppable rising star for climate and clean energy policy advocacy. As a new member of the Ceres BICEP Network, Ball Corporation has been an enthusiastic advocate, pushing for a carbon-free standard in Arizona, urging for Ohio leaders to reinstate clean energy standards, and calling for policy action in line with Colorado’s science-based climate goals. 

The 2021 State Policy Champion is IKEA North American Services, LLC. This award recognizes a company that shows unwavering support, thoughtful leadership, and effective advocacy on state climate and clean energy policy. As this year’s winner, IKEA consistently goes above and beyond in helping to advance ambitious state climate proposals. Michael Hughes joined the IKEA team in 2020 as the U.S. public affairs lead and has expanded U.S. advocacy issues at the state level. IKEA’s voice has been invaluable to advancing major clean transportation policy initiatives, such as the Transportation and Climate Initiative, the Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle MOU, and clean car standards, and the company continues to be a leading voice on renewable energy in states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The Golden State Water Policy Award goes this year to Fetzer Vineyards for demonstrating creative commitment to advancing water stewardship and safe drinking water policy in California. A longtime member of Connect the Drops, Fetzer Vineyards continues to raise its voice to advocate on issues from soil health and smart water policies, both through column writing and direct lawmaker outreach.

This year we introduced a new award to honor advocacy on clean transportation policy, which is critical to tackling the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. We are pleased to give the 2021 Transportation Policy Advocate award to Bruce Marsh, director, corporate public policy, at DHL. DHL was one of the founding members of the Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance (CEVA), which helps aggregate corporate demand and expand production of a more diverse array of clean vehicles. Beyond his work in CEVA, Bruce helped to position DHL as a key advocate on a range of policy such as the Transportation and Climate Initiative, the Multi-State Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle MOU, and clean car standards. 

The 2021 Most Valuable Partnership Award winner is Climate Collaborative for leadership and steadfast collaboration with Ceres on mobilizing businesses in  the natural foods industry to advocate for climate solutions and accelerate our shared vision of a more sustainable future for all. Climate Collaborative has been instrumental in bringing small business voices to our advocacy efforts across the country. 

Finally, each year we award the Ceres BICEP Crown to honor an individual who has personally devoted themselves to the value of corporate climate advocacy and has demonstrated leadership and commitment beyond our wildest expectations. The individuals who have worn the crown over the years are those who consistently show up, stand up, and speak up. They say “Yes” to our collective work with grace and aplomb, set the standard for their respective companies, and are models for the larger corporate community. 

Our dazzling 2021 winner of the Ceres BICEP Crown is Meg Villarreal, manager of policy and public affairs at Nestle. Meg is a strong and consistent advocate for all of our state work. This last year alone, Meg was eager to lend her voice to the fight in Ohio to repeal legislation that rolled back the state’s clean energy standards, the successful push to adopt a 100% clean energy goal in Virginia, and the ongoing effort to get Pennsylvania to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Meg is also a consistent advocate in Washington, D.C., joining more than 330 companies at LEAD on Climate 2020 to make the case for why climate policy is vital to building back a more resilient economy. As a part of this effort, she joined me in speaking to GreenBiz on the importance of companies standing up and speaking out on climate policy. Meg continues to serve as an avid supporter of the Ceres BICEP Network, speaking publicly on the value of joining together with industry partners on policy advocacy. 

Thanks to the tireless work of this group of award winners—and that of the entire Ceres BICEP Network—we had some impressive accomplishments this last year:

• Representatives from 330 companies came together for LEAD on Climate—a virtual advocacy day with a clean message that the U.S. must build back better from the ravages of COVID-19.

• Governors from 15 states pledged to work collectively to decarbonize commercial vehicles, the largest ever multistate collaboration. 

• Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker issued an executive order establishing a net-zero emissions goal for the Commonwealth, and the Massachusetts Legislature incorporated those goals as well as key environmental justice provisions into its ambitious Next Generation Climate Roadmap. 

• The Arizona Corporation Commission voted to move forward with establishing a carbon-free electricity standard to reduce carbon emissions by 100% by 2050, becoming the first state in the country where Republicans led an initiative like this. A final vote to formalize the rules is expected to occur this spring.

• Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf stood strong in his effort to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative by vetoing a bill that would have blocked the state from taking part in the program. 

• East Coast governors from three states and the mayor of the District of Columbia finalized a policy agreement for the Transportation and Climate Initiative to build a more modern and equitable regional transportation system. 

• Virginia joined the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and became the first state in the Southeast to commit to 100% carbon-free electricity. 

• California Governor Gavin Newsom announced an executive order requiring that sales of all new passenger vehicles be zero-emission by 2035 and all operations of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles be zero emission by 2045, the first such commitment in the U.S. 

Thank you to this year’s award winners for their tireless efforts and for continuing to inspire us to push for ambitious climate policy action. We look forward to working with our corporate partners both within and outside of the Ceres BICEP Network in the weeks and months ahead to keep driving comprehensive climate solutions that will help build back a more equitable and inclusive economy. 

For now, please join us in raising a virtual glass to all the 2021 BICEP Awards winners.