A comprehensive study analysing global efforts to combat climate change has revealed a significant gap in emissions reduction commitments across various sectors. The research, conducted by Net Zero Tracker, a coalition of research groups from the University of Oxford, found that approximately 40 per cent of major companies, cities, and regions have yet to establish any targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This annual “stocktake” aims to assess worldwide progress in addressing the pressing issue of climate change. While there has been an increase in net-zero pledges since the previous year, the report highlights that attention has been diverted by various factors, including wars, elections, and economic challenges. This has resulted in a notable “commitment gap” in climate action.
The study encompassed a wide range of entities, including 198 countries, 706 sub-national regions, 1,186 cities, and nearly 2,000 publicly listed companies. Out of the more than 4,000 entities examined, 1,750 had made formal net-zero pledges. However, a concerning finding was that almost 1,700 entities had not set any emission reduction targets whatsoever.
In the corporate sector, just under 60 per cent of listed firms had established net-zero targets, marking a 23 per cent increase from the previous year’s report. Asia, in particular, saw a significant rise in such pledges. Despite this progress, 495 companies still lack any emissions targets, down from 734 in the previous year. Notably, even major electric vehicle manufacturers like Tesla and BYD, along with other prominent companies such as Nintendo and Berkshire Hathaway, were identified as lacking specific emission-cutting targets across their operations.
The report did highlight some positive examples, citing Costa Rica, Volvo, and Google’s parent company Alphabet as demonstrating “good practice” in implementing their net-zero pledges. However, only a small fraction – 5 per cent – of regions, cities, and companies met all of Net Zero Tracker’s criteria for “robustness” in their climate commitments. These criteria include having detailed plans to phase out fossil fuels.
Several areas of concern were identified in the study. Approximately half of the regions, cities, and companies have not set targets for non-CO2 greenhouse gases, such as methane. Many firms also failed to account for emissions across their entire value chains or provide clarity on their reliance on carbon offsets to meet targets.
On a national level, the report found that 148 states, covering 88 per cent of the world’s population, have made net-zero commitments. However, notable exceptions include Mexico, Iran, and Azerbaijan – the latter being the host of the upcoming COP29 climate talks in November.
The researchers emphasised that technologies exist to triple current levels of climate ambition. They stressed the importance of the next round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted to the United Nations, urging that these should provide more detailed information on how targets will be implemented.
Catherine McKenna, a former Canadian environment minister who chairs a U.N. expert group on net-zero commitments, acknowledged the progress made but emphasized the need for significantly more action. Her statement, “There’s been some good progress, but we need a lot more,” encapsulates the overall findings of the report – while steps are being taken in the right direction, the pace and scale of climate action must dramatically increase to address the urgent global challenge of climate change effectively.