Major corporations still lack credible climate strategies – report
Clean Energy Wire
Large global corporations like carmakers, food companies and tech giants are still failing to present credible corporate climate strategies, according to an analysis of company plans by Germany-based NewClimate Institute and Carbon Market Watch.
None of the 20 companies assessed in-depth – such as Amazon, Ford, Adidas and Mars – demonstrated a climate strategy of ‘reasonable’ or ‘high’ integrity, said the institute. “Only a few frontrunners – such as H&M Group, Stellantis and Apple – are assessed as having ‘moderate’ integrity.”
“While awareness of what constitutes credible corporate climate action is growing among companies and standard setters, even the most ambitious companies often fail to transition their business models with the speed and scale needed to meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal,” said co-author Frederic Hans. The organisations have assessed company strategies for several years.
They said that headline emissions reduction targets are often hollowed out by incomplete data, sector-specific loopholes and emissions accounting malpractices. It said sector-specific targets are needed instead.
The analysis took a deep dive into several sectors: food and agriculture, fashion, tech, and the automotive industry. In the automotive sector, key fields like reducing emissions from battery production and improving electric vehicle efficiency “remain mostly neglected by companies and standard setters.” Germany’s Volkswagen is among the carmakers with an overall “poor” climate integrity strategy. The company aims to become carbon neutral by 2050, but it does not explicitly communicate a goal for emissions reductions to meet this target, as the researchers showed.
As companies commit pledges to reach net zero emissions, it can be difficult to distinguish real ambition from greenwashing. Many ambitious-sounding pledges are devoid of clear pathways to decarbonisation, and commitments are little more than vague declarations of intent. Other plans hide huge chunks of a company’s CO2 emissions, or rely on dubious promises to compensate continued emissions, while lacking efforts to reduce fossil fuel use.
