Why would major corporations – absent a political requirement – get involved in renewable energy investments? Representatives for a group of major North American companies gathered in New York recently to discuss the results of a release of a pair of studies on renewable energy use and its perception among global consumers.

While each speaker at the Energy Transparency 2012 launch at the Bloomberg building in New York said that their companies were in part pursuing energy because it was “the right thing to do,” each also stressed a business reason behind their expansion of investments in renewables. Brand differentiation was cited by TD Bank’s Head of Environmental Affairs Diana Glassman, but so was the appeal to employees. Employees want to work for companies that are responsible about their environmental footprint, even when – as financial or insurance companies – their emissions output is relatively small. Keep reading →