Our thinking

Heroes and villaiNZ

11 February, 2022

Net zero is a term that gets used a lot, but one where actions really do speak louder than words.  

A new publication by German organisation New Climate assessed net zero claims from 25 world-leading companies with net zero targets. To cut a long report short, the results were damning. The average reduction target was only 23% to 2030, and just 40% until they achieved ‘net zero’ – both of which fall short of the deep decarbonisation required to limit global warming to 1.5C.  

In the world of climate commitments, there are few repercussions for businesses who do not achieve their carbon targets. So, we welcome third-party scrutiny of company GHG accounting, targets and strategy disclosures – especially when companies seemingly align with climate science and best practice. However, we don’t believe that all companies setting net zero targets should be in for a kicking as they make the effort to transition to net zero whilst others taking no action escape unscrutinised. Better to try and fail than not to try at all.   

We know the system is imperfect; the regular use of GHG accounting techniques to exclude large portions of emissions, the potential conflicts of SBTi standards, high fees and incentive to be ‘the’ framework; the shifting goalposts of what ‘best practice’ means are all problematic. This is why we believe commitments and targets should come hand in hand with regular transparent disclosures. 

Commitments and targets should signal internally that a goal has been deemed so important by management that efforts to achieve it are integrated into every decision across the business. So often, commitments are viewed as communications opportunities. But the true opportunities lie in showing their workforce that the business intends to be a part of their future and shaping that future through adaptation and innovation. And perhaps the A in SMART needs to stand for Ambitious, rather than Achievable, when it comes to carbon.  

Need help knowing what net zero means for you? You know where we are. 

By Jennie Mitchell