As the world suffers from the wrath of climate change, environmental nonprofit organizations put pressure on the top companies adding to the destruction. A study claims that companies exaggerate climate progress by not trying hard enough.
The world’s top companies are pushing for more robust and stricter environmental protection efforts. Some have promised to be utterly free from carbon footprint before 2050. But will they stay true to their promise?
A study may completely debunk these promises, as seen in today’s companies’ production activities and business flow. This study puts 25 companies in the limelight and monitors their environmental impact. The list of companies are:
- Maersk
- Apple
- Sony
- Vodafone
- Amazon
- Deutsche
- Telekom
- Enel
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Google
- Hitachi
- Ikea
- Vale
- Volkswagen
- Walmart
- Accenture
- BMW Group
- Carrefour
- CVS Health
- Deutsche Post DH
- E.On SE
- JBS
- Nestle
- Novartis
- Saint-Gobain, Unilever
These firms account for five percent of the total greenhouse emissions that potentially lead to climate change. Thomas Day, the author of the study, expresses his disappointment in companies failing to do their part.
However, top companies such as Google, Apple, IKEA, and Amazon disagree on the implicit “recklessness” on their part. Representatives from these companies said they’ve been logging their environmental efforts and seeing progress over time.
Claims lacking substance
Net Zero is the movement that targets zero-free greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But is this too big of a goal, considering that the world’s top greenhouse contributors are also powering the economy?
Led by nonprofit organizations Carbon Market Watch and New Climate Institute, Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor oversees the companies’ carbon footprint activities. However, upon scrutiny of some of these companies, the organization’s report lacks evidence.
Nestle said otherwise. The company said in an interview, “We welcome scrutiny of our actions and commitments on climate change. However, the New Climate Institute’s Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM) report lacks understanding of our approach and contains significant inaccuracies.”
The study scores the companies via an “integrity” rating. And although the companies are reducing their carbon footprint, their scores need improvement. This means no company deserves a “high integrity” score.
Top brands have promised to be completely carbon-free or at least decrease their carbon footprint immensely by 2030. Google said they would be carbon-free by 2030, while IKEA also claims the brand will be “climate-positive” by 2030. Also, Amazon said they will be 100 percent sustainably by 2025.
But the question is: Are these mere exaggerations?
Thomas Day claims that only three of the scrutinized companies are staying true to their promise of carbon footprint reduction. These are Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Maersk. Day backs their claims and says only these companies are genuinely reducing 90 percent of their carbon footprint from supply chains and production.
Companies exaggerate climate progress: Claims versus reality
Day says companies’ pledges in decreasing environmental impact might be music to the ears. However, there is a problem in believing if these alleged pledges are true or not. Because the reality is that none of these companies are trying extremely hard to go carbon-free for the Net Zero movement. Moreover, he says these companies could improve and try harder.
The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor promises to investigate these companies’ environmental impact further. And while we wait for massive changes, we can all continue to reduce our carbon footprint to make Net Zero a success by 2050.
