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An assessment of climate action by high-carbon global corporations

Author

Listed:
  • Simon Dietz

    (London School of Economics and Political Science
    London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Charles Fruitiere

    (FTSE Russell)

  • Carlota Garcia-Manas

    (Church Commissioners for England and Church of England Pensions Board)

  • William Irwin

    (London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Bruno Rauis

    (London School of Economics and Political Science)

  • Rory Sullivan

    (FTSE Russell
    University of Leeds)

Abstract

Corporations are an important source of GHG emissions1–3 and important actors in mitigating climate change4. This paper presents and analyses a database of corporate climate action that provides an up-to-date assessment of companies’ carbon management practices, as well as systematically benchmarking companies’ emissions pathways against international targets. Our analysis covers 138 companies in 7 high-emitting sectors, accounting for 21% of emissions from all listed companies globally5. While most companies have implemented basic carbon management practices, we find that less than half of them have implemented more strategic practices. Further analysis indicates companies separate into those that hardly undertake any carbon management practices and those that undertake most. Perhaps surprisingly, most corporate emissions targets in our sample are aligned with the Paris Agreement goals, although most companies are yet to set quantified targets. Companies that have implemented more carbon management practices today are more likely to have set 2 °C-aligned targets. Carbon management and emissions performance are associated most strongly with where companies are headquartered and their size.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Dietz & Charles Fruitiere & Carlota Garcia-Manas & William Irwin & Bruno Rauis & Rory Sullivan, 2018. "An assessment of climate action by high-carbon global corporations," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 8(12), pages 1072-1075, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:8:y:2018:i:12:d:10.1038_s41558-018-0343-2
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-018-0343-2
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Fried, Stephie & Novan, Kevin & Peterman, William B., 2022. "Climate policy transition risk and the macroeconomy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    2. Rossana Mastrandrea & Rob ter Burg & Yuli Shan & Klaus Hubacek & Franco Ruzzenenti, 2022. "Scaling laws in global corporations as a benchmarking approach to assess environmental performance," Papers 2206.03148, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2023.
    3. Simone Cenci & Matteo Burato & Marek Rei & Maurizio Zollo, 2023. "The alignment of companies' sustainability behavior and emissions with global climate targets," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Parrish Bergquist & Christopher Warshaw, 2023. "How climate policy commitments influence energy systems and the economies of US states," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.
    5. Gostlow, Glen, 2020. "The materiality and measurement of physical climate risk: evidence from Form 8-K," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107045, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Naef, Alain, 2024. "The impossible love of fossil fuel companies for carbon taxes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    7. Ortiz, Mateo & Cadarso, María-Ángeles & López, Luis-Antonio & Jiang, Xuemei, 2022. "The trade-off between the economic and environmental footprints of multinationals’ foreign affiliates," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 85-97.
    8. Dietz, Simon & Gardiner, Dan & Jahn, Valentin & Noels, Jolien, 2021. "How ambitious are oil and gas companies’ climate goals?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112536, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Florian Egli & Rui Zhang & Victor Hopo & Tobias Schmidt & Bjarne Steffen, 2023. "The contribution of corporate initiatives to global renewable electricity deployment," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.

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