According to a UN-backed research, a record number of major polluters have committed to reducing CO2 emissions. However, corporations in Asia, Africa, and Latin America fall behind those in Europe, the United States, and Japan, according to the Science-Based Targets Initiative.

Separately, a paper questioned whether all of the carbon savings promised by oil firms could be met. According to a think tank, major oil companies are depending on unproven technologies.

The Research-Based Targets Initiative counsels businesses on how to create emissions reduction targets that are consistent with climate science.

It claims that targets have now been embraced by over 2,000 enterprises worth $38 trillion across 70 countries and 15 industries. According to the authors, a critical mass of enterprises (27 per cent) have joined the campaign in the most polluting sectors.

They believe this might be a good tipping point, as polluting behemoths influence activities throughout the entire supply chain.

More than half of the corporations setting goals are from the G7, but there are also representatives from China, India, Brazil, South Korea, and South Africa.

According to the survey, Canada and Italy are lagging behind. Africa and Asia, in particular, require more players.

According to the document::

In 2021, almost 80 per cent of the targets adopted by the corporations were matched with the benchmark of keeping global temperature rises to 1.5oC above pre-industrial levels.

Between 2015 and 2020, the majority of enterprises with 1.5°C targets reduced emissions twice as quickly as required.

The target setting was praised by environmentalist Tom Burke of the think tank E3G.

“This is really good news”, he said, “but it’s very late in the day. We are way past the time when we should be tackling climate change.

“It’s great to have targets but there’s a huge gap in government and business between targets and achievements”.

A separate report advocated prudence regarding the goals of energy companies.

According to the research tank Carbon Tracker, oil and gas companies are basing their emissions targets on either selling polluting assets or relying on unproven or contentious technologies. These include carbon capture and storage (CCS) and carbon offsetting, which might entail planting trees to offset industrial emissions.

According to Carbon Tracker, investors should consider whether companies’ aims are not only ambitious but also credible.

“Emissions mitigation technologies pose a huge risk to investors and the climate because most, such as CCS, are at an early stage of development, and solutions involving tree-planting require vast areas of land. Costs will be enormous and it is not clear whether they will be technically feasible or economically viable,” said the author, Mike Coffin.

(Adapted from BBC.com)

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