Page 8 - REM Annual Review 2021

REM MARCH REM

20% of world’s corporate

giants set net-zero targets

Work towards reaching net-zero targets must be robust, transparent and urgent
if the Paris Agreement’s goals are to be met, writes Richard Lockhart

GLOBAL AT least one fifth of the world’s largest compa- At present, 20% of the already published
nies have set net-zero targets, although such net-zero targets meet these criteria. While this
WHAT: goals could be meaningless if they are not backed is a good start, and represents how the net-zero
21% of the world’s 2,000 up by effective governance and transparency. concept is gaining currency among governments
largest listed companies A recent report from the Energy and Climate and companies, more needs to be done.
have set net-zero targets Intelligence Unit (ECIU) and Oxford Net Zero The lead author of the report, Richard Black,
found that 21% of the world’s 2,000 largest listed Senior Associate at the ECIU, said: “Although net
WHY: companies had included carbon neutral com- zero as a concept is still in its infancy, it is already
They are responding to mitments in their corporate strategies. driving policy change. Clearly though, to keep
the maturing concept of Meanwhile, over 50% of the 2,000 compa- the world on track to global climate targets we
net zero nies have set interim targets, a published plan need more countries, states, regions and compa-
and a reporting mechanism, but no net-zero nies to sign up to targets and existing pledges to
WHAT NEXT: commitment. be improved.
More needs to be done in Just over 25% has also signed up to a full set of “There is logic to setting a target and then
the short term to ensure what the report calls “robustness criteria”. building a plan and reporting mechanisms to
that interim targets are The report, called Taking Stock: A global meet that, but companies and countries alike
in line with longer-term assessment of net zero targets, examined net- will need to make progress on this in the run-up
2050 pledges zero commitments made so far by major compa- to COP. Countries such as Japan and the US will
nies, as well as national and local governments. need to back their net-zero ambitions with near-
The report also found that authorities in 61% er-term 2030 emissions targets.”
countries, 9% of states and regions in the largest For example, while Japan has set 2050 as its
emitting countries and 13% of cities with popu- target date for net zero, its interim targets for
lations of over 500,000 had now made net-zero 2030 were recently criticised as not being robust
commitments. enough, thereby reducing the credibility of the
Taking both companies and governments country’s long-term goals.
together, 769 out of 4,000 entities surveyed
(19%) have a net-zero target in place. The com- Lack of clarity
mitments cover at least 61% of global green- The report also identifies a lack of clarity around
house gas (GHG) emissions, 68% of global GDP how countries and companies alike will use
(assessed in purchasing power parity terms) and offsetting, rather than actual cuts in emissions
56% of the world’s population. by industry, power generation and transport,
However, the report stressed that targets and to meet targets. It identified the extensive pro-
policies are not enough, and that the world’s cor- posed use of forestry as a carbon sink as being
porate giant could be vulnerable to allegations of difficult, as there no planetary limits on nature-
“greenwashing” if they do not put in place proper based offsets.
governance and transparency mechanisms, Co-author Dr Thomas Hale from the Blavat-
including how much offsetting they rely on. nik School of Government, University of Oxford
said: “While the rapid uptake of net-zero targets
Targets is encouraging, we need much more clarity from
The research as comes as major emitters such actors on how they plan to get there. It’s particu-
as China, India, Japan, the US, the UK and the larly important that actors clarify their approach
European Union have made net-zero commit- to offsetting. Although some offsetting may be
ments for 2050 or 2060 at the latest, as well as needed for so-called “residual emissions” in
major fossil fuel companies such as Royal Dutch certain sectors, the most important priority
Shell and BP. is immediate emissions reductions. If every
The report rates various targets from compa- company and country relies on offsets and not
nies and government on the extent they achieve a enough on actual emission cuts, we simply won’t
certain minimum set of robustness criteria, as set be able to accommodate these globally.”
out by the UN Race to Zero Campaign. With 124 countries now committed to or

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