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Fossil fuel companies’ net-zero pledges are “largely meaningless.”
At least that’s what NetZero Tracker — a group that keeps its eye on hundreds of companies’ emissions reduction promises — has concluded in a new report out this week.
There’s clear scientific evidence that the world needs to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Nearly 150 countries say they’re aiming for net-zero emissions within the next few decades, while 929 publicly traded corporations say the same, according to NetZero Tracker’s report.
The United Nations defines that goal for countries as reducing carbon emissions as much as possible, and then making sure anything still emitted is absorbed by the Earth. But what net-zero means to corporations isn’t so clear.
So to evaluate supposedly eco-conscious companies, NetZero Tracker looked at whether they’d set interim emissions reduction targets and if they were accounting for their products’ lifetime emissions potential — not just the carbon created during manufacturing. Less than 5% of the net-zero-claiming corporations actually were.
Among fossil fuel companies, the stats were even worse. Only four fossil fuel companies have said they’ll phase out oil, gas, or coal exploration, production, and power generation as quickly as needed to achieve climate goals, and none have committed to doing all of those things. And unless they spell out how they’ll account for their products’ lifetime emissions, pretty much every fossil fuel company’s net-zero goals are “largely meaningless,” NetZero tracker concluded.
More clean energy news
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⚖️ Climate lawsuits’ game changer: U.S. climate lawsuits could be entering a “game-changing” new phase as they multiply and challenge governments’ and companies’ responsibility for climate change, legal experts say. (Guardian)
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Original Article: https://energynews.us/newsletter/corporations-net-zero-goals-dont-mean-much/
