Giving Compass' Take:

• Various company executives share how corporations are committed to staying the course to address the climate crisis during COVID-19. 

• How can corporations unlock their philanthropic arms to support commitments to climate change? 

• Learn about corporate renewable energy in the age of COVID-19. 

During the run-up to Earth Day, the GreenBiz editorial team is usually deluged with incoming news alerts from the stalwarts of sustainability and opportunistic consumer products companies touting eco-centric wares.

This year, the tone is markedly subdued as companies process the far-reaching impacts and implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and focus most outbound marketing communications on immediate responses to that urgent crisis. That doesn’t mean substantial and serious work isn’t happening behind the scenes.

PepsiCo, as an example, proceeded with its plan to adopt the United Nations Business Ambition for 1.5 Degrees C pledge. "I have to make sure that even as we operate business in the new reality — or the short-term reality — my job is to make sure we don’t lose sight of the sustainability agenda and climate change we’re facing," PepsiCo CSO Simon Lowden told me when we chatted last week. (Read more in my Q&A.)

What’s more, 70-plus companies this week officially became certified under the ClimateNeutral labeling system by completing a carbon footprinting exercise and buying offsets to counteract their impact.

More are waiting in the wings, but the economic disruption triggered by social distancing measures meant to combat the spread of coronavirus delayed the verification process but no signatories have stepped back from their commitment outright, according to Climate Neutral CEO Austin Whitman. "Even under challenging business conditions, our first group of brands has stayed committed to solving the climate crisis by directing precious resources toward reducing and offsetting their emissions," he said.

We reached out to dozens of companies, including members of the GreenBiz executive network, to ask them to consider that question. Read on for the responses we received, lightly edited for clarity. We greatly appreciate their transparency.

Read the full article about corporate sustainability among COVID-19 by Heather Clancy at GreenBiz.