(Credit: Net Zero Tracker)Net Zero Tracker has released a report which analyzes net-zero targets across countries, governments, and companies, offering a breakdown of how net-zero goals are currently manifesting in today's world, showing that while net-zero strategies continue to increase, outcomes haven't always been clear.
Major findings include a substantial rise in net-zero targets underpinned by legislation and multiple shortcomings for entities that have claimed net-zero goals. This includes a failure to commit to phasing out fossil fuels and deficiencies in expanding the robustness of subnational and corporate net-zero strategies.
The Net Zero Stocktake assesses states and regions in the largest 25-emitting countries globally, cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants, and the largest 2,000 publicly-listed companies in the world.
Of the 4,000 entities tracked, those with net-zero commitments have nearly doubled since December 2020, but this number still represents less than half of the total entities. While state entities have supported net-zero goals with policy documentation, the majority of non-state entities have yet to even set a net-zero goal. On the corporate level, the European Union is substantially ahead of the U.S. in its net-zero target setting.
Biotech, healthcare, and pharma represent the highest percentage of companies lacking any kind of emission reduction target, followed by infrastructure and retail. Power generation and fossil fuels have the highest percentage of net-zero targets, but none of the fossil fuel companies with such commitments plan to fully transition away from fossil fuels and associated businesses.
These findings are especially alarming considering the IPCC and IEA have revealed that major cuts in fossil fuel consumption and production are crucial for achieving net zero and meeting Paris Agreement temperature targets.
The report found next to no progress in the percentage of entities attempting to meet the UN’s Race to Zero criteria.
Standards for defining net zero have emerged from multiple avenues in helping guide entities toward their goals, so entities should by now be supplied with specific ways they can work to reach net-zero targets. Some entities have claimed they will use carbon dioxide removal strategies in their value chain along with carbon offset credits.
Recent events reveal that consumers are looking to hold companies especially accountable for claiming net-zero goals without providing transparency on the specific actions being taken to meet them. Delta and KLM now face legal action based on consumer dissatisfaction with the respective companies’ presenting their net zero and sustainability aims without taking major steps to get there. According to this recent report, many corporations and other entities currently reflect this pattern.
