CORPORATE MINDS ON CLIMATE ACTION

The report finds that while 92% of surveyed business leaders view reducing carbon emissions as an urgent priority, many struggle with the 'how' of decarbonization due to budget and technological constraints. Businesses increasingly view the voluntary carbon market (VCM) as a critical tool for immediate action, though concerns over greenwashing and market transparency persist. While science-based targets are widely supported, there is a significant demand for clearer, more realistic guidance to help organizations meet their 2030 and 2050 goals.

• There is a near-universal corporate commitment to climate targets, with 100% of respondents stating their organization is either working towards or already has climate targets, and 92% identifying emissions reduction as an urgent priority.
• Business leaders perceive clear organizational benefits to reducing emissions, primarily in building brand recognition, driving innovation, and attracting and retaining customers.
• The voluntary carbon market (VCM) is viewed as a vital supplementary tool for immediate climate action, with 89% of respondents considering carbon credits important for neutralizing unabated emissions. The Financial Services sector showed the highest perceived importance at 96%.
• Despite the utility of carbon credits, 44% of respondents expressed concern that companies use them for greenwashing to mask unsustainable behavior. To increase investment, businesses seek more transparency regarding the use of offset revenues (53%) and a better understanding of how projects reduce emissions (50%).
• Significant operational obstacles hinder decarbonization efforts, most notably budget constraints (86%), lack of internal consistency and collaboration (86%), and technological constraints (84%).
• While 79% of respondents agree that science-based targets help keep companies on track, there is a perceived gap in guidance, with 82% of respondents concerned about the practical implementation of accelerated decarbonization.

APA

We Mean Business Coalition (2023). CORPORATE MINDS ON CLIMATE ACTION. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Corporate-Minds-On-Climate-Action-Report.pdf

Chicago

We Mean Business Coalition. CORPORATE MINDS ON CLIMATE ACTION. 2023. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Corporate-Minds-On-Climate-Action-Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=We Mean Business Coalition |title=CORPORATE MINDS ON CLIMATE ACTION |date=January 2023 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Corporate-Minds-On-Climate-Action-Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wemeanbusinesscoalition2023corporate, author = {{We Mean Business Coalition}}, title = {{CORPORATE MINDS ON CLIMATE ACTION}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Corporate-Minds-On-Climate-Action-Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }