On climate, big firms talk more than act

PARIS — The world's biggest and richest companies are failing to deliver on their climate pledges, according to an in-depth analysis released on Monday that calls on governments to crack down on corporate greenwashing.

Under growing pressure from shareholders, governments and consumers, companies are racing to adopt strategies to reduce the carbon emissions of their operations, along with their products and services.

Twenty-four multinationals examined have all endorsed the Paris treaty target of capping global warming at 1.5 C, and aligned themselves with United Nations-backed campaigns to ensure that business plays its part in decarbonizing the global economy.

Staying under that critical temperature threshold will require slashing global greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030, and reaching net zero — with any residual emissions balanced by removals — by midcentury, the UN's IPCC science advisory panel has said.

But the 2030 pledges of 22 companies would only slice 15 percent off their collective emissions, the report said.

And net-zero targets adopted by all 24 multinationals — if met — would barely remove a third of their current emissions.

"The overwhelming majority of these corporations are simply not delivering the goods they promised," the 2023 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor concluded.

Climate think tanks Carbon Market Watch and NewClimate Institute did a deep dive into sectors ranging from the auto, shipping and aviation industries to retail fashion, high tech and food, and steel and cement. No oil or gas companies were included.

With combined earnings of more than $3 trillion, the 24 companies under the microscope account for about 4 percent of all global emissions — 2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide or its equivalent each year.

Analysts assessed the integrity of each corporation's climate plan, looking at the accuracy of self-reported emissions, targets set for reducing them, progress to date, and how heavily pledges depend on questionable compensation schemes known as carbon offsets.

Misleading pledges

"At a time when corporations need to come clear about their climate impact and shrink their carbon footprint, many are exploiting vague and misleading 'net zero' pledges to greenwash their brands, while continuing with business as usual," Carbon Market Watch executive director Sabine Frank said.

Earning the best overall marks was the shipping company Maersk, with its plan for erasing its carbon footprint by 2040 deemed to have "reasonable integrity".

The climate plans of eight corporate giants, including Apple, Google, Microsoft and the steel conglomerate ArcelorMittal, were judged to have "moderate integrity".

The Swedish fast-fashion retail company H&M, also in this tranche, has very ambitious emissions reduction targets, but parts of its green strategy could undermine them, the report said.

"The company's plans to switch to biomass and renewable electricity credits in the supply chain could severely undermine those targets," NewClimate Institute's policy analyst Silke Mooldijk said.

Agencies Via Xinhua