The Carbon Chasm

In 2007 the IPCC stated that developed economies must reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80-95% by 2050 in order to avoid dangerous climate change.

This report utilizes the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) dataset to analyze how the world’s largest companies currently set emissions reduction targets and whether planned reductions are sufficient to combat long term climate change. It also draws evidence from 12 in depth interviews with Global 100 companies to show with Global 1003 companies to show what motivates senior management in setting GHG reduction targets.

This work was conducted in conjunction with BT (British Telecommunications plc), which has ignited a debate around science led targets with its proposed Climate Stabilisation Intensity target (CSI) methodology.

The findings highlight a significant gap between what’s needed from the corporate sector and what’s currently promised. Whether this is because everyone is waiting on the outcome from Copenhagen in December is not clear. Whatever the reason, the business world needs to find a way of closing the carbon chasm.