Evolution of Corporate Climate Targets

The report advocates for the adoption of transition-specific alignment targets—sector-specific metrics such as zero-emission vehicle sales—to complement greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets and address the limitations of current scope 3 emission tracking.

• Current short-term scope 3 GHG emission reduction targets face several limitations, including the risk of 'creative accounting' through carbon credits or unaligned technologies, GHG inventory fluctuations caused by business changes or mergers, and the 'spend method' which fails to capture low-carbon procurement.
• Transition-specific alignment targets are sector-specific metrics that track progress in key transitions (e.g., near-zero-emission steel procurement) and can effectively address the majority of scope 3 emissions for sectors like agriculture, fashion, technology, and automotive using a small set of tailored indicators.
• To improve corporate climate standards, the report recommends standardising definitions for terms like "plant-based products," establishing scientific sectoral pathways for indicators, and integrating transition-specific targets across scopes 1, 2, and 3.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2025). Evolution of Corporate Climate Targets. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/evolution-of-corporate-climate-targets

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. Evolution of Corporate Climate Targets. 2025. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/evolution-of-corporate-climate-targets.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=Evolution of Corporate Climate Targets |date=21 January 2025 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/evolution-of-corporate-climate-targets |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2025evolution, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{Evolution of Corporate Climate Targets}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/evolution-of-corporate-climate-targets}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }