Year after year, European companies blow climate-damaging greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Savings are still slow, but progress is being made on transparency.
The pressure is increasing, but there is a lot of catching up to do: According to an analysis, 16 percent of European companies have climate targets that are compatible with the Paris target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.
The information from more than 1,220 European companies was included in this evaluation by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which, as a non-governmental organization, systematically evaluates the climate targets of companies.
According to the study, a lot has happened in terms of transparency: Within a year, the number of companies that even report science-based climate targets increased by 85 percent. There is also progress in the financial sector: 44 percent of the European financial institutions surveyed now provide information on their “financed emissions” – i.e. on those emissions that they promote through investments or insurance activities. These included Allianz and the reinsurer Munich Re. According to the evaluation published by the Carbon Disclosure Project together with the management consultancy Oliver Wyman, that was 50 percent more than in the previous year.
Savings still too low
According to the analysis, the actual savings made so far in climate-damaging emissions have left a lot to be desired: adjusted for savings caused by the pandemic, the savings would be around 1.5 percent per year. According to the organization, however, in order to be in line with the path of the Paris climate goal, they would have to decrease by 4.2 percent per year. At the World Climate Conference in Glasgow in November, the international community reaffirmed the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. Experts agree that this is the only way to avert the catastrophic consequences of climate change.
“It is high time that all companies and financial institutions with large ecological footprints take urgent action to align their value chains with the natural limits of our planet,” CDP Executive Director Maxfield Weiss said in a statement.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
