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With 2020 fast approaching, former United Nations Climate Change Chief Christiana Figueres has called on the global community to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Joined by a group of leading climate and business experts, Figueres has launched a campaign highlighting why 2020 is a critical turning point and how it can be achieved. The campaign draws on findings from the report 2020: The Climate Turning Point, which features the most up-to-date scientific basis for urgent action to reduce emissions, as well as a roadmap of action to 2020.

Announced today at Climate Week NYC 2017 in New York, global financial institutions Citi and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have joined The Climate Group's RE100 campaign with CDP, committing to source 100% renewable power across their global operations by 2020. Other companies joining the RE100 initiative are one of the fastest-growing beverage companies, Califia Farms, and UK investment management company Jupiter Asset Management. The announcements follow news last week that The Estée Lauder Companies, Kellogg Company, DBS Bank and Clif Bar & Company have also joined RE100. 110 of the world's most influential companies are now generating demand for over 150 TWh renewable energy annually - more than enough to power New York State.

We Mean Business describes itself as "a coalition of the world's most influential businesses calling for ambitious climate policy and bold climate action." The new group - a coalition of coalitions, really - aims to fill a void to counter well-heeled trade groups, think tanks and corporate lobbyists aimed at maintaining the status quo.

The industry has resisted pressure for years from environmental groups to warn investors of the risks that stricter limits on carbon emissions could have on their businesses, although that appears to be changing. Energy experts said prosecutors may decide to investigate companies that chose to fund or join organizations that questioned climate science or policies designed to address the problem, such as the Global Climate Coalition and the American Legislative Exchange Council, to see if discrepancies exist between the companies' public and private statements.

The first item on the long list of issues to be addressed at the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week: Climate change. On Tuesday President Barack Obama will address a group of world leaders at the U.N. Climate Summit, a one-day meeting hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and open to leaders of all 193 U.N. member states, though not all will attend, plus members of the private sector.

Fifty-seven global companies organized by the Climate Group signed a letter urging the European Council to adopt a strong energy and climate policy framework during their meeting later this month. Signatories included 3M (CEF member), Coca Cola Enterprises, General Electric (CEF member), GlaxoSmithKline, IKEA, Philips, Shell, and Unilever (CEF member).

For a growing number of companies, fighting climate change is a zero-sum game. In late September, several organizations associated with nonprofit sustainability outfit The B Team declared a "net zero by 2050" (PDF) aspiration pertaining to greenhouse gas emissions. Among them: consumer products giant Unilever; apparel company Kering; Chinese construction company Broad Group; African telecommunications carrier Econet; Brazilian cosmetics manufacturer Natura; and British-born investment group Virgin - a geographically diverse group that underscores the global nature of climate challenges.

businesses that support the Paris climate deal are pressuring President Trump to keep the United States in the accord. They argue that by staying involved in the international talks, the U.S. can discourage policies that could hurt the oil, gas and coal industries. Coal companies, oil giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips, renewable energy groups, and major American manufacturers such as General Electric are among those arguing that the United States should stay in the deal. The White House has promised that Trump will decide on the United States' involvement in the Paris deal before next month, a high-stakes decision with major diplomatic and economic implications.

Two Asian nations are on track to exceed their climate goals by 2030, according to the Climate Action Tracker, an analysis produced by a consortium of nonprofits and consulting groups. China and India both have made renewable energy investments and have committed to burning less coal.

On Friday, a group of children suing the government for inaction on climate change scored a major victory, as a judge ruled that the Washington State Department of Ecology must deliver an emissions reduction rule by the end of this year. That decision follows another major win in mid-April, when an Oregon judge ruled that a similar lawsuit could go forward despite opposition from the fossil fuel industry.

Lego Group today pledged to work with its suppliers to reduce total carbon emissions as it joins the World Wildlife Federation's Climate Savers program. If Lego reduced CO2 emissions directly related to toy production at Lego factories by a minimum of 10 percent - the target - this would remove about 10,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions, the toy manufacturer says.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's newest installment, Working Group III: Mitigation and Climate Change, highlights an important message: It's still possible to limit average global temperature rise to 2°C - but only if the world rapidly reduces emissions and changes its current energy mix.

A group of 140 California firms have reiterated calls for legislators to deliver ambitious action on climate change with the release of a new declaration signaling their support for policies that serve to cut emissions and drive investment in clean tech.

Gap, HP and Dr Pepper Snapple Group are among the S&P 500 companies facing climate change related risks and costs, according to a CDP report.

Cities could save a collective $22 trillion and vastly reduce global emissions by embracing green building, better infrastructure and other environmental measures, researchers say. "Becoming more sustainable and putting the world -- specifically cities -- on a low-carbon trajectory is actually feasible and good economics," said Seth Schultz, a researcher for the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. 

The Coalition for Higher Ambition issued a statement calling on EU officials to "act on the Paris Agreement and ensure that EU climate policies are coherent with its goals." The Coalition for Higher Ambition is an informal group of businesses, investors, NGOs, and others working together to promote leadership on climate change mitigation in the EU.

A group of 24 companies - including Apple, Facebook, Google, HPE, Ingersoll Rand, Johnson Controls, Microsoft, Tiffany & Co, Unilever, and VF Corporation - signed a statement urging President Trump to "keep the United States in the Paris Agreement on climate change for the good of the U.S. economy." The statement was featured as a full-page advertisement in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and New York Post.

This article points to the latest wave of businesses working collaboratively on the urgent, common ground issues of renewable energy and climate policy. In America's history of westward expansion and exploration, pioneer families came together in wagon trains for mutual support. In the same way, the examples below show that businesses are taking action, together, to ensure a more certain future that's good for all of us and for business.