Even as we think about climate change and aim to work towards handling issues related to it, some of the world’s biggest companies are failing in fulfilling their promises.
Many big companies have taken pledges to handle issues associated with climate change but reports state work is not being done. According to a study of 25 corporations, many big firms are not meeting their own targets about managing climate change.
As against their claims of “net zero” and “carbon neutrality”, 25 of the world’s largest companies are only aiming to reduce their emissions by 40 per cent on average.
These findings were released as a part of the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor which was released on February 7. The report was conducted by NewClimate Institute in collaboration with Carbon Market Watch.
The report monitors the operations of 25 major firms in different sectors and geographies to assess their transparency and integrity about formerly promised climate pledges. It states that well-doing firms like Google, Amazon, Ikea, Apple and Nestle are a part of the list that bespeaks the names of firms failing to change quickly.
Out of the 25 firms monitored, only one firm’s net-zero pledge was seen to have "reasonable integrity"; three with "moderate", ten with "low". The rest of the 12 firms were rated as having “very low” integrity.
Based on the report, Deutsche Telekom, Enel, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Hitachi, IKEA, Vale, Volkswagen, Amazon and Walmart have low integrity.
The firms counted in the list of very low integrity include Accenture, BMW Group, Carrefour, CVS Health, Deutsche Post DHL, E.ON SE, JBS, Nestlé, Novartis, Saint-Gobain and Unilever.
Thomas Day of NewClimate Institute, the lead author of the study, said "We set out to uncover as many replicable good practices as possible, but we were frankly surprised and disappointed at the overall integrity of the companies' claims”.
"As pressure on companies to act on climate change rises, their ambitious-sounding headline claims all too often lack real substance, which can mislead both consumers and the regulators that are core to guiding their strategic direction. Even companies that are doing relatively well exaggerate their actions”, he added.
