Most of world's biggest firms 'unlikely' to meet Paris climate targets

(The Guardian, 24 Sep 2019) Only a fifth of the companies will remain on track, according to analysis of their disclosures.

More than four fifths of the world’s largest companies are unlikely to meet the targets set out in the Paris climate agreement by 2050, according to fresh analysis of their climate disclosures.

A study of almost 3,000 publicly listed companies found that just 18% have disclosed plans that are aligned with goals to limit rising temperatures to 1.5C of pre-industrialised levels by the middle of the century.

The report covers companies across the global economy and was undertaken by investment data provider Arabesque S-Ray which assigned each company a temperature score based on its publicly disclosed plans.

The companies are scored based on their publicly disclosed emissions-intensity today and scientifically accredited plans to reduce their emissions in future.

The analysts found more than a third of the world’s top 200 companies still do not disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, despite rising concern that urgent action is needed to avert dangerous levels of global heating.

Andreas Feiner, chief executive of Arabesque S-Ray, said companies “may appear to be taking steps to reduce their impact on climate change”, but many are choosing to keep the full scale of their emissions under wraps to avoid losing investment.

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The Guardian, 24 Sep 2019: Most of world's biggest firms 'unlikely' to meet Paris climate targets