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Companies committed to cut emissions represent $38 tn economy: Report
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SME Times News Bureau | 13 May, 2022
A record number of companies are committing to and setting science-based
climate targets, according to a new research by the Science-Based
Targets Initiative (SBTi), the global body enabling businesses to set
emissions reduction targets in line with science.
The
SBTi has launched its third annual assessment of the initiative's impact
since its launch in 2015. The 2021 Progress Report 'Scaling Urgent
Corporate Climate Action Worldwide' reveals that the SBTi has entered a
period of exponential growth with SBTi companies now representing over a
third of global market capitalization, worth $38 trillion, up from 20
per cent in 2020.
In 2021, the number of SBTi companies doubled
to 2,253, including 1,082 companies with approved targets and 1,171 that
committed to set science-based targets. These companies cover 70
countries and 15 industries, with the growth rate averaging at 110 new
companies per month in 2021, compared to 31 in 2020. These figures
include 117 financial institutions, which have committed to set
science-based targets since 2015.
Between January and March 2022, almost 500 companies have set or committed to set science-based targets.
Luiz
Fernando do Amaral, CEO of the SBTi, said: "The world today is faced
with many challenges, there's the devastating Russian war in Ukraine,
the ongoing pandemic and the increasingly urgent climate crisis. At this
critical time, we cannot let ourselves be divided.
"In the face
of these existential crises, the SBTi will continue to work with
governments, companies and NGOs, through strong collaboration, healthy
debate and scientific research to reinforce 1.5 degrees Celsius
corporate climate action as the new normal.
"The science is
clear, we are already experiencing the impacts of climate change, and
continuing on the current trajectory equals catastrophe. This report
shows that the value the SBTi brings to society is more needed now than
ever before, we must continue to drive the exponential growth of
science-based targets and make them abusiness as usual' for companies
and financial institutions worldwide."
As the first assessment of
the SBTi's progress since the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the
report's findings evidence a growing wave of international momentum
towards science-based targets.
The necessity of this momentum is
reflected in the latest UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) WGIII report, which concluded that peak global emissions along
with rapid and urgent reductions is required before 2025 to keep global
heating under 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In October 2021, the SBTi
launched the Net-Zero Standard, the world's first framework for
corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. It
includes the guidance, criteria, and recommendations companies need to
set science-based net-zero targets consistent with limiting global
temperature rise to 1.5 degrees.
The Net-Zero Standard has
accelerated the shift towards 1.5 degrees aligned targets as the new
normal for corporates. The report indicates almost 80 per cent of 587
new targets approved in 2021 were aligned with a 1.5 degrees trajectory.
In
April 2022, the initiative celebrated a round of new, net-zero approved
targets with the total number of companies committed to the Net-Zero
Standard surpassing 1,000.
The SBTi's 'ambition update' also
announced that the global initiative will only accept target submissions
aligned with 1.5 degrees from July 2022, driving companies to go
further and faster with their emissions reductions.
Lila
Karbassi, Chair of the SBTi board and Senior Programme Officer at the UN
Global Compact, said: "The global economy must halve emissions before
2030 to reach the Paris goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, and it is currently
not on track to do so.
"This goal is reflected in the most
recent IPCC report, which poses a clear message, we must implement rapid
and urgent emissions reductions or face planetary catastrophe. The
climate action we're seeing from companies is grounds for optimism, but
we must all go further and faster to close the emissions gap."
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Customs Exchange Rates |
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Import |
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UK Pound
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84.65 |
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75.65 |
Japanese
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56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
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