Some of the world’s top companies continue to exaggerate their climate progress.
That’s the claim of a new report from the NewClimate Institute – that many major businesses are not adapting quickly enough to combat climate change.
Some of the companies named by the report include Apple, Amazon, Google, Ikea and Nestle.
The report analysed businesses’ public climate pledges and net zero ambitions and rated them based on their ‘integrity’.
No firm was given a rating of ‘high integrity’, with the aforementioned businesses all scoring between ‘moderate’ and ‘very low’.
The study alleged that the strategies in place would at best reduce emissions by 40% and not the 100% needed for net zero.
The authors claim that all companies in the study account for 5% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and although this number is very high, stress this means these companies can have an even larger impact when it comes to sustainable action.
Lead author Thomas Day said: “Companies’ ambitious-sounding headline claims all too often lack real substance. Even companies that are doing relatively well exaggerate their actions.”
Nestle refuted the claims, stating: “We welcome scrutiny of our actions and commitments on climate change. However, the New Climate Institute’s report lacks understanding of our approach and contains significant inaccuracies.
“Our roadmap is a starting point and we remain focused on delivering against our public ambitions now and into the future.”
Amazon commented: “Amazon is committed to finding innovative solutions to reduce emissions.
“We set ambitious targets because we know that climate change is a serious problem and action is needed now more than ever.”
Ikea did call the report “constructive” and stated: “We will further strengthen our reporting and transparency measures and share detailed information about our climate goals and progress in our annual Ikea Sustainability Report.”
Google stated: “We clearly define the scope of our climate commitments and regularly report on our progress in our annual Environmental Report, where our energy and GHG emissions data is assured by Ernst & Young. We’re proud of the progress we’re making.”
At the time of publication Apple are yet to respond to a request for comment.
