Only 1 in 20 of Europe’s largest 1,000 companies on track to net zero

Only 1 in 20 of Europe’s largest 1,000 listed companies will achieve their net-zero pledges unless they speed up emissions cuts in the next decade.

Almost one-third of those companies have committed to reaching net zero by 2050, and just 9% of those are on course to succeed if they continue the pace of reduction between 2010 and 2019, according to global professional services firm Accenture Plc.

Seven industries, mostly in the service sectors, will be on track for net zero only if they cut emissions at double the pace in the next 10 years, and then by up to 70% in the following decade.

The goal of net-zero pledges is to nullify the amount of greenhouse gases caused by human activity, and slow the pace of global warming. Companies and organizations look to various methods, such as absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, to balance pollution they create to pollution they remove.

[Damian Shepherd]

7 October 2021

IEEFA