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World’s 425 Largest Companies Failing to Set Independently Verifiable Climate Targets

This is a 2024 report. It is the most current climate report for the world's largest companies available on Spendwell.

rankings

MORE INFO

Companies committing to more independently verifiable action to mitigate their negative impact on the climate rank higher.

key
committed
target set
committed, failed to set target
BA
committed to Business Ambition for 1.5°C, failed to set target
better
renewable energy
energy efficiency
near-term
net-zero
AstraZeneca
1/425
Deutsche Telekom
2/425
Vodafone
3/425
Cisco Systems
4/425
Maersk Group
4/425
Sony
4/425
GSK
7/425
Sanofi
8/425
Nestlé
9/425
Tesco
10/425
Iberdrola
11/425
Enel
**fossil fuel industry
12/425
Qualcomm
12/425
Telefónica
12/425
CVS
15/425
Lenovo
15/425
Magna International
15/425
Sainsbury's
15/425
Saint-Gobain
15/425
Thermo Fisher
15/425
COSCO Shipping
21/425
AB InBev
22/425
AEON
23/425
Pfizer
23/425
SoftBank Group
25/425
KDDI
26/425
Panasonic
26/425
Novartis
28/425
Hitachi
29/425
Merck
29/425
Apple
31/425
IKEA (Ingka Group)
32/425
Nike
32/425
AbbVie
34/425
Denso
34/425
Home Depot
34/425
Robert Bosch
34/425
Continental AG
38/425
KB Financial Group
38/425
NTT Group
40/425
ThyssenKrupp
40/425
General Motors
42/425
Airbus
43/425
Albertsons
43/425
ALDI
43/425
AT&T
43/425
Best Buy
43/425
BMW
43/425
Cardinal Health
43/425
Cencora
43/425
worse

Summary

This report compares the 425 largest companies in the world* on climate crisis action and leadership, measured through participation in the independent Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as well as Climate Group’s RE100 and EP100 initiatives. Companies making more and better commitments and setting more and better independently verifiable targets, rank higher.

  • Just 21 of the world's 425 largest companies have set net-zero targets with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the collaborative climate commitment program supported by the United Nations. Another 25 companies have active commitments to set net-zero targets with SBTi.
  • Conversely, 14 of these 425 companies committed to setting net-zero targets with SBTi, but have failed to achieve approved targets within the commitment time frame (a minimum of 2 years) and have been removed from SBTi’s net-zero commitment list.
  • 25 companies committed to having net-zero targets verified by SBTi through the Business Ambition for 1.5°C initiative or after, but failed to meet agreed-to deadlines for target verification and are still without approved targets.
  • 107 companies have managed to set near-term targets with SBTi. 10 companies failed to set near-term targets by the agreed-to deadline and were removed from SBTi’s commitment list.
  • 71 of these companies have made a commitment to 100% renewable energy through Science Based Targets or Climate Group’s RE100 initiative.
  • Only 5 companies have set energy efficiency targets with Climate Group’s EP100 initiative.

March, 2024: the monthly atmospheric concentration of CO₂ averaged above 425 ppm for the first time in human history as measured by NOAA at Mauna Loa.

*The 425 largest companies in the world based on publicly available revenue data or data made available to Spendwell. In some instances, globally important companies experiencing rapid growth but without updated revenue figures are included. Spendwell's rankings include private companies: partnerships, mutuals, employee owned enterprises and cooperatives with publicly reported revenue figures that can be reasonably expected to be accurate.

[beta]*

Ranking Methodology

This Spendwell ranking is predicated on the values-based statement a company should do all that it can to address and ultimately reverse its negative impact on the global climate. Most individual value rankings reported by Spendwell consist of a singular data point or a combination of like data points over set time periods (e.g., executive pay in each of the last 3 years, averaged). Measuring climate and other environmental impacts is significantly more complex.

Adding to this complexity is the third criteria for inclusion of a data point in any individual Spendwell value ranking: the data point should be independently verified. Typically, data points are derived from a company's self-reporting to regulatory bodies. In some instances, data is self-reported to independent, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and entities committed to transparency and truth-telling. Measurable climate data points are almost exclusively reported to the latter, complicating the process of compiling a value ranking, as nongovernmental bodies rarely have regulatory authority (e.g., the ability to require self-reporting). Fortunately, public interest in corporate climate impact has fostered a robust, independent NGO-based reporting system that Spendwell can tap into and distill data for publicly accessible, directly measurable and independently verified data points.

Two active climate accountability initiatives are currently reported by Spendwell and included in Spendwell’s initial climate impact value rankings:

  1. The Climate Group’s RE100 and EP100 programs focused on renewable energy consumption and efficiency, respectively, and
  2. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an independent corporate climate action commitment and measurement effort supported by CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature. SBTi is focused on renewable energy, near-term, and net-zero commitments and targets.

Both of these initiatives meet Spendwell’s value-ranking criteria and both demonstrate corporate climate commitment to action. Just as important, these initiatives represent two of the only cross-industry, independent climate change-reporting efforts active on a global scale.

The RE100, EP100 and SBTi initiatives require significant commitments to action by corporations and both involve rigorous, scientifically guided and independently approved goal- and target-setting. Both initiatives produce numerically comparative data points representing corporate commitment to positive climate impacts, level of positive impact attainment, and generally a time-frame for achieving those positive impacts. An approved RE100 commitment or an SBTi renewable electricity commitment consists of a target year for attaining 100% renewable energy consumption. EP100 commitments generally involve a target year, but this varies widely by company and industry. Similarly, an approved SBTi net-zero target consists of a target year for attaining net-zero. SBTi committed targets are assessed by SBTi to align with one of three levels of progressively positive climate impact: an impact level consistent with a “2 degrees Celsius” rise in global temperatures, a “well-below 2 C” rise, or a “1.5 C” or less rise. Points for ranking these complex commitments and targets are as follows:

  • Renewable Energy

    Spendwell assigns a company 50 points for participation in the RE100 initiative or the SBTi renewable electricity target. Companies are awarded a point for each year a 100% renewable energy target is sooner than 2050. For example, if a company's RE100 target year is 2025, they will be awarded 25 bonus points. In the event a company has committed to both initiatives, Spendwell uses only the data from the initiative with the earliest target year.
  • Energy Efficiency

    Spendwell assigns a company 50 points for participation in the EP100 initiative, but because of the significant variation in target years depending on company, industry, and more, Spendwell does not award bonus points for target year nearness.
  • Near-term

    A company gets 25 points for committing to set near-term Science Based Targets. Spendwell does not count commitments to the SBTi version of Business Ambition for 1.5°C unless companies have already set targets. The Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment initiative closed for commitments over 3 years ago. For more information, see SBTi's final report on its Business Ambition for 1.5°C program.
  • A company gets 25 points each for setting near-term Scope 1, 2 or 3 Science Based Targets.
  • A company gets 50 points for setting Science-Based Targets that align with “2 degrees” of warming, 100 points for targets aligned with “well-below 2 degrees” of warming or 150 points for targets aligned with “1.5 degrees Celsius” of warming.
  • Net-zero

    Companies committing to set net-zero targets with SBTi get 100 points and an additional 150 points when their net-zero targets are approved. Additionally, companies are awarded 5 points for each year a net-zero target is sooner than 2050. For example, if a company’s target year is 2040, they will be awarded 50 bonus points.
  • Missed Deadlines & Removal

    If a company, including its subsidiaries and overseas operations, misses an agreed to deadline for target verification or is removed from the Climate Group or SBTi's commitment list(s) for failure to set or reach approved targets, the company will lose 500 points and any points associated with previously made commitments and/or targets tied to the removed commitment. This includes companies that made Business Ambition for 1.5°C net-zero commitments, but failed to follow through with verification through SBTi. Certain companies, such as financial institutions and certain automobile industry companies, have been granted target setting extensions by SBTi. Spendwell does not currently penalize these companies for having missed target setting dates, but does not grant them commitment points. For more information on these exceptions, see SBTi's commitment compliance policy.

    Please note: when SBTi notified committed companies in early 2023 about the above compliance policy, SBTi also let companies rescind commitments. If a company made a commitment through the Business Ambition for 1.5°C program, Spendwell's ranking includes that original commitment whether or not it was rescinded during SBTi's commitment compliance policy notice period.

  • Fossil Fuel Companies

    Companies Spendwell classifies as belonging to the fossil fuel industry with no active commitments or targets tracked by Spendwell, lose 500 points. For Spendwell, fossil fuel companies are those actively involved in the production or distribution of fossil fuels. Utilities that consume fossil fuels, but do not produce or distribute them in significant ways are not considered fossil fuel companies for Spendwell's rankings.

You can find out more about each of these independent, science-led climate initiatives through the following links:

RE100 COMMITTED COMPANIES

EP100 COMMITTED COMPANIES

SBTi COMMITTED COMPANIES

The point system used in this ranking was developed by Spendwell in order to weight the importance of each commitment and target.

This ranking is currently focused on independently verifiable climate action commitments and targets. Future updates to this ranking will include measuring a company's transparency regarding its targets as well as demonstrated or verifiable action taken to make those commitments and targets, real and meaningful.

*[All methodologies are in beta. Expect revisions and improvements.]
[beta]*

Ranking Methodology

This Spendwell ranking is predicated on the values-based statement a company should do all that it can to address and ultimately reverse its negative impact on the global climate. Most individual value rankings reported by Spendwell consist of a singular data point or a combination of like data points over set time periods (e.g., executive pay in each of the last 3 years, averaged). Measuring climate and other environmental impacts is significantly more complex.

Adding to this complexity is the third criteria for inclusion of a data point in any individual Spendwell value ranking: the data point should be independently verified. Typically, data points are derived from a company's self-reporting to regulatory bodies. In some instances, data is self-reported to independent, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and entities committed to transparency and truth-telling. Measurable climate data points are almost exclusively reported to the latter, complicating the process of compiling a value ranking, as nongovernmental bodies rarely have regulatory authority (e.g., the ability to require self-reporting). Fortunately, public interest in corporate climate impact has fostered a robust, independent NGO-based reporting system that Spendwell can tap into and distill data for publicly accessible, directly measurable and independently verified data points.

Two active climate accountability initiatives are currently reported by Spendwell and included in Spendwell’s initial climate impact value rankings:

  1. The Climate Group’s RE100 and EP100 programs focused on renewable energy consumption and efficiency, respectively, and
  2. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an independent corporate climate action commitment and measurement effort supported by CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute and the World Wide Fund for Nature. SBTi is focused on renewable energy, near-term, and net-zero commitments and targets.

Both of these initiatives meet Spendwell’s value-ranking criteria and both demonstrate corporate climate commitment to action. Just as important, these initiatives represent two of the only cross-industry, independent climate change-reporting efforts active on a global scale.

The RE100, EP100 and SBTi initiatives require significant commitments to action by corporations and both involve rigorous, scientifically guided and independently approved goal- and target-setting. Both initiatives produce numerically comparative data points representing corporate commitment to positive climate impacts, level of positive impact attainment, and generally a time-frame for achieving those positive impacts. An approved RE100 commitment or an SBTi renewable electricity commitment consists of a target year for attaining 100% renewable energy consumption. EP100 commitments generally involve a target year, but this varies widely by company and industry. Similarly, an approved SBTi net-zero target consists of a target year for attaining net-zero. SBTi committed targets are assessed by SBTi to align with one of three levels of progressively positive climate impact: an impact level consistent with a “2 degrees Celsius” rise in global temperatures, a “well-below 2 C” rise, or a “1.5 C” or less rise. Points for ranking these complex commitments and targets are as follows:

  • Renewable Energy

    Spendwell assigns a company 50 points for participation in the RE100 initiative or the SBTi renewable electricity target. Companies are awarded a point for each year a 100% renewable energy target is sooner than 2050. For example, if a company's RE100 target year is 2025, they will be awarded 25 bonus points. In the event a company has committed to both initiatives, Spendwell uses only the data from the initiative with the earliest target year.
  • Energy Efficiency

    Spendwell assigns a company 50 points for participation in the EP100 initiative, but because of the significant variation in target years depending on company, industry, and more, Spendwell does not award bonus points for target year nearness.
  • Near-term

    A company gets 25 points for committing to set near-term Science Based Targets. Spendwell does not count commitments to the SBTi version of Business Ambition for 1.5°C unless companies have already set targets. The Business Ambition for 1.5°C commitment initiative closed for commitments over 3 years ago. For more information, see SBTi's final report on its Business Ambition for 1.5°C program.
  • A company gets 25 points each for setting near-term Scope 1, 2 or 3 Science Based Targets.
  • A company gets 50 points for setting Science-Based Targets that align with “2 degrees” of warming, 100 points for targets aligned with “well-below 2 degrees” of warming or 150 points for targets aligned with “1.5 degrees Celsius” of warming.
  • Net-zero

    Companies committing to set net-zero targets with SBTi get 100 points and an additional 150 points when their net-zero targets are approved. Additionally, companies are awarded 5 points for each year a net-zero target is sooner than 2050. For example, if a company’s target year is 2040, they will be awarded 50 bonus points.
  • Missed Deadlines & Removal

    If a company, including its subsidiaries and overseas operations, misses an agreed to deadline for target verification or is removed from the Climate Group or SBTi's commitment list(s) for failure to set or reach approved targets, the company will lose 500 points and any points associated with previously made commitments and/or targets tied to the removed commitment. This includes companies that made Business Ambition for 1.5°C net-zero commitments, but failed to follow through with verification through SBTi. Certain companies, such as financial institutions and certain automobile industry companies, have been granted target setting extensions by SBTi. Spendwell does not currently penalize these companies for having missed target setting dates, but does not grant them commitment points. For more information on these exceptions, see SBTi's commitment compliance policy.

    Please note: when SBTi notified committed companies in early 2023 about the above compliance policy, SBTi also let companies rescind commitments. If a company made a commitment through the Business Ambition for 1.5°C program, Spendwell's ranking includes that original commitment whether or not it was rescinded during SBTi's commitment compliance policy notice period.

  • Fossil Fuel Companies

    Companies Spendwell classifies as belonging to the fossil fuel industry with no active commitments or targets tracked by Spendwell, lose 500 points. For Spendwell, fossil fuel companies are those actively involved in the production or distribution of fossil fuels. Utilities that consume fossil fuels, but do not produce or distribute them in significant ways are not considered fossil fuel companies for Spendwell's rankings.

You can find out more about each of these independent, science-led climate initiatives through the following links:

RE100 COMMITTED COMPANIES

EP100 COMMITTED COMPANIES

SBTi COMMITTED COMPANIES

The point system used in this ranking was developed by Spendwell in order to weight the importance of each commitment and target.

This ranking is currently focused on independently verifiable climate action commitments and targets. Future updates to this ranking will include measuring a company's transparency regarding its targets as well as demonstrated or verifiable action taken to make those commitments and targets, real and meaningful.

*[All methodologies are in beta. Expect revisions and improvements.]

Ranking



rankings

MORE INFO

Companies committing to more independently verifiable action to mitigate their negative impact on the climate rank higher.

key
committed
target set
committed, failed to set target
BA
committed to Business Ambition for 1.5°C, failed to set target
better
renewable energy
energy efficiency
near-term
net-zero
AstraZeneca
1/425
Deutsche Telekom
2/425
Vodafone
3/425
Cisco Systems
4/425
Maersk Group
4/425
Sony
4/425
GSK
7/425
Sanofi
8/425
Nestlé
9/425
Tesco
10/425
Iberdrola
11/425
Enel
**fossil fuel industry
12/425
Qualcomm
12/425
Telefónica
12/425
CVS
15/425
Lenovo
15/425
Magna International
15/425
Sainsbury's
15/425
Saint-Gobain
15/425
Thermo Fisher
15/425
COSCO Shipping
21/425
AB InBev
22/425
AEON
23/425
Pfizer
23/425
SoftBank Group
25/425
KDDI
26/425
Panasonic
26/425
Novartis
28/425
Hitachi
29/425
Merck
29/425
Apple
31/425
IKEA (Ingka Group)
32/425
Nike
32/425
AbbVie
34/425
Denso
34/425
Home Depot
34/425
Robert Bosch
34/425
Continental AG
38/425
KB Financial Group
38/425
NTT Group
40/425
ThyssenKrupp
40/425
General Motors
42/425
Airbus
43/425
Albertsons
43/425
ALDI
43/425
AT&T
43/425
Best Buy
43/425
BMW
43/425
Cardinal Health
43/425
Cencora
43/425
worse


This report is based on data collected through 2024-04-11.
Report id: 1001--2024-04-19T17:43:41.460Z

Report Disclaimer

Spendwell is a corporate accountability focused, investigative media group that sources all data used in its rankings and reports through government regulatory entities, recognized nongovernmental organizations, news media and independently verifiable company self-reporting. For this climate report, the data used in this report is sourced from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Climate Group, each of which have their own data policy/disclaimer that can be found at the following links: SBTi Disclaimer (see dashboard Key text) and the Climate Group's RE100 terms of service and the Climate Group's general/EP100 terms of service. These disclaimers also apply to the related data in this report.

The veracity of the information sourced from SBTi and the Climate Group is generally excellent, but is reliant, in most instances, on information provided by companies to this NGOs. Spendwell disclaims any liability arising from use of Spendwell’s reporting, rankings or any other content on spendwell.com or otherwise provided by Spendwell. Spendwell does not provide investment advice; therefore, nothing on Spendwell.com or content otherwise provided by Spendwell should be construed as an offering of investment advice. If you believe information reported by Spendwell or included in one of Spendwell’s reports or rankings is inaccurate, please contact Spendwell through the report or ranking in question in order to request an investigation and/or editorial correction.

If you believe this report needs a correction or update, please let Spendwell know.
If you are media or have other questions regarding this report, please contact Spendwell.

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