Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022

The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022 assesses 25 multinational companies, finding that most 'net zero' pledges are ambiguous and lack deep emission reduction commitments. The report highlights a systemic reliance on low-quality carbon offsets and renewable energy certificates (RECs) that often fail to provide additional climate benefits. While a few companies demonstrate leadership in renewable energy procurement and value chain engagement, the overall integrity of corporate climate strategies remains low, with many targets falling short of the 1.5C Paris Agreement goal.

• Net zero targets for the 25 assessed companies commit to an average emission reduction of only 40% of their full value chain emissions from 2019, rather than the 100% implied by the term 'net zero'.
• Only three of the 25 companies Maersk, Vodafone, and Deutsche Telekom explicitly commit to deep decarbonisation of over 90% of their full value chain emissions by their target years.
• Interim targets for 2030 are insufficient to align with the 1.5C goal, with an average emission reduction commitment of just 23% for full value chain emissions between 2019 and 2030.
• Scope 3 emissions account for an average of 87% of total emissions for the assessed companies, yet only 8 of the 25 companies provide a moderate level of detail on plans to address them.
• The use of unbundled renewable energy certificates (RECs) is widespread but often lacks integrity, as they may not incentivize new renewable capacity and can lead to double counting.
• Carbon neutrality claims are frequently misleading, often covering only a small fraction of a company's total footprint. For example, Apple's 2020 carbon neutrality claim covered only 1.5% of its total GHG footprint.
• A majority of companies (19 out of 25) plan to rely on offsetting for future pledges, with at least two-thirds relying on nature-based solutions that lack guaranteed permanence.
• The concept of 'insetting' (offsetting within the value chain), promoted by companies like Nestl and IKEA, is viewed as a contentious and unrecognized approach that risks double counting emission reductions.
• Climate contributions financial support for mitigation beyond the value chain without claiming neutralisation are gaining traction but are currently implemented at a modest scale and with low transparency.

APA

Day, T., Mooldijk, S., Smit, S., Posada, E., Hans, F., Fearnehough, H., Kachi, A., Warnecke, C., Kuramochi, T., & Höhne, N. (2022). Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CMW_CCRM2022_v08_FinalStretch2.pdf

Chicago

Day, Thomas, Silke Mooldijk, Sybrig Smit, Eduardo Posada, Frederic Hans, Harry Fearnehough, Aki Kachi, et al. Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022. Carbon Market Watch, 2022. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CMW_CCRM2022_v08_FinalStretch2.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{day2022corporate, author = {Day, Thomas and Mooldijk, Silke and Smit, Sybrig and Posada, Eduardo and Hans, Frederic and Fearnehough, Harry and Kachi, Aki and Warnecke, Carsten and Kuramochi, Takeshi and Höhne, Niklas}, title = {{Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2022}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/CMW_CCRM2022_v08_FinalStretch2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }