The European Commission’s proposed Clean Industrial Deal has shone a spotlight on the EU’s strategy to accelerate decarbonisation and at the same time ensure industrial competitiveness. To succeed in these goals, the proposal calls for de-risking private investment, securing energy affordability and ensuring regulatory simplification.

Hand in hand with the EU’s efforts, American companies committed to Europe are getting creative in their own efforts to help decarbonise the continent. These initiatives make use of cutting-edge technology and old-fashioned biodiversity to reduce their carbon footprint and integrate into their operations climate-friendly energy solutions and integrate energy-efficient solutions into their operations.

Cisco – Spain

In 2024, Cisco signed a 15-year agreement to purchase approximately 60,000 MWh per year of solar energy from a Spanish renewable energy provider. As a result, a new solar plant was built in the region of Aragón, creating more than a hundred jobs during construction, and a permanent team was hired for operation and maintenance. The agreement is expected to provide enough solar energy to match 100% of the annual electricity needs for Cisco’s operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for the next 15 years.

Honeywell – Denmark

The Ringsted District Heating Utility in Denmark, which is responsible for heating more than 7,000 homes, schools, stores, sporting facilities and other local buildings, pledged to achieve 95% carbon-free heat by 2020. To achieve this lofty ambition, Honeywell and several project partners designed a 21st-century, energy-efficient heat plant that, among other sustainability features, improved efficiency and reduced costs by recovering and recycling waste heat. As a result of these innovations, the heat plant produced 97% carbon-free heat after just one year.

Mars, Inc. – the EU

Dairy is the second largest contributor of the Mars Snacking division’s carbon footprint, and raw ingredients account for over 70% of the organisation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. As part of a global $47 million investment in dairy sustainability, the company is working with industry leaders to implement climate-smart, on-farm interventions. In the EU, these innovative farming practices include using manure additives to reduce storage emissions, implementing biodigesters to convert manure into energy, using new technologies to create a pathway to zero emissions and launching additive projects to reduce enteric methane emissions.

Wabtec – Italy

Wabtec’s Piossasco plant near Turin, Italy employs a combination of solar energy projects, biodiversity preservation and improved industrial processes to reduce its carbon footprint. The site expanded its solar panel system in 2024 to cover 64% of the plant’s energy needs, an increase from 29% in 2023. In addition, it has planted trees, introduced beehives and installed a 20,000-litre tank to collect rainwater and irrigate the green areas, among other innovations.

Read more about AmCham EU members’ decarbonisation initiatives on Invested in Europe, our platform for stories of American companies’ positive impacts on communities across the continent.