According to fresh analysis of their climate disclosures, it is unlikely that the targets set out in the Paris climate agreement by 2050 would be met by more than 20 per cent of the largest companies of the world.

This conclusion was arrived at after a study of about 3,000 publicly listed companies of the world. The study also found that just 18 per cent of the companies examined have made public any of its plans that are aligned to the goals to limit rising temperatures to 1.5C of pre-industrialised levels by the middle of the century.

The research report was undertaken by investment data provider Arabesque S-Ray and covered companies across the global economy. The researchers a temperature score based on the publicly disclosed plans of a company was assigned to each of the companies considered for the study. The basis of the score awarded to a public company were the current emissions intensity of the company as publicly disclosed and the future plans of the company for emission reduction as accredited by a panel of scientists to be true and useful.

Data about greenhouse gas emissions from their business operations had not been made public by more than a third of the top 200 companies of the world, the analysts found even as there are growing concerns about global warming and continued and increasing demand of more commitment from government and businesses.

Companies “may appear to be taking steps to reduce their impact on climate change”, said Andreas Feiner, chief executive of Arabesque S-Ray. He said that many companies are keeping under wraps the full extent of their emissions because of fear of losing investments.

He said that investments into companies could be made more transparent with the help of Arabesque’s temperature scores as it assigns a 3C increase to companies that do not make public their data about carbon emissions from their business activities.

A near-term score that aligns with the Paris Climate target to keep global temperature rise at below 1.5C by 2030, existed for about half of 2,900 companies included in the study

But such short term efforts would not be enough to meet the long term requirements of keeping the global temperature within limits. According to the report, only about 20 per cent of the companies surveyed would be able to keep themselves aligned with the climate targets by 2050 while it is likely that temperatures by at least 2.7C would be pushed by more than one fourth of the companies examined.

This trend is more pronounced in the world’s 200 largest listed companies. Almost two-thirds of the G20 are expected to be on track to limit global heating to 1.5C by 2030, but – without drastic steps to reduce emissions – this number will plummet to 18% by 2050.

The temperature score report “has the potential to be a major force for change”, said Christiana Figueres, the former executive secretary of the UN Framework on Climate Change.

These scores for the various large companies were made public the publication of a report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

“We have a small but certain window of opportunity to make all the necessary efforts to keep the global temperature rise to 1.5C, and thereby contribute to a safer, more productive, more socially inclusive and prosperous world,” Figueres said.

(Adapted from TheGuardian.com)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Geopolitics, Regulations & Legal, Strategy, Sustainability, Uncategorized