Highest-emitting companies off-track to meet Paris climate goals
A major new report assessing 274 of the world’s highest-emitting publicly-listed companies reveals that only 1 in 8 companies are reducing carbon emissions at the rate required to keep global warming below 2°C.
The research also found finds that almost half (46%) do not adequately consider climate risk in operational decision-making. A quarter (25%) do not report their own emissions at all, undermining a key recommendation of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD).
The study was carried out for the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) by the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics. It analysed companies in 14 carbon-intensive sectors such as Oil and Gas, Electric Utilities, Automobiles, Airlines and Steel. These sectors account for 41% of global emissions from publicly listed companies worldwide
Professor Simon Dietz, Co-Director of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and lead author of the report said:
“It’s over three years since the Paris Agreement was signed and this research shows the corporate sector is improving its climate planning and performance, but not fast enough. Cutting through the noise we can see that barely 12% of companies plan to reduce emissions at the rate required to keep global warming below 2°C.”
The report findings at a glance:
- 46% of companies are not adequately integrating climate change into their business decisions.
- 25% of companies do not disclose their own carbon emissions.
- Among the companies assessed for the second consecutive year, 35 of 130 companies (27%) improved how they integrate climate change into their business decisions.
- 84% of companies do not disclose an internal carbon price; and 86% are yet to undertake and disclose climate scenario planning – a critical part of TCFD reporting.
- Only 16% of companies assessed for their current and planned GHG emissions are aligned with the 2°C benchmark.
- Only 12.5% of companies assessed for their current and planned GHG emissions are aligned with the most ambitious below 2°C benchmark.
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