The first benchmark for evaluating the largest companies' commitment to a net-zero transition was released Monday by Climate Action 100+, a global investor engagement initiative on climate change.
The Net-Zero Company Benchmark compares companies' performances against three commitment goals: reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving governance and strengthening climate-related financial disclosures.
Climate Action 100+ said that while there is growing global momentum regarding companies making ambitious climate commitments, the benchmark's assessments show that companies still have a long way to go in delivering on these promises. None of the companies assessed performed at a high-level across all of the nine key indicators and metrics, and no company has fully disclosed how it will achieve its goals to become a net-zero enterprise by 2050 or sooner, including establishing short- and medium-term targets.
The benchmark "moves us from 'why' to 'how' companies make the net-zero transition," said Anne Simpson, Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee member and managing investment director for board governance and sustainability at the $445 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, in a news release.
"It sets out the indicators that matter to investors, including CapEx (capital expenditures), board governance and climate reporting, (and) gives us the tool needed for engagement and to inform our proxy voting," she said. "The first assessments show the scale of ambition, where we are and where we need to get to, with measures along the way. We're in the foothills of a long climb."
