NET ZERO STOCKTAKE 2025

The Net Zero Stocktake 2025 finds that while net zero target-setting continues to rise among companies and subnational governments, national-level coverage has dipped due to the US formally abandoning its target. Target integrity remains low, with only a small fraction of entities meeting minimum procedural and substantive requirements. The report also highlights a concerning corporate reliance on nature-based removals and offsets, which often lack transparency and durability.

• Net zero target-setting is increasing overall despite political headwinds, with 1,935 entities tracked in the database holding such targets as of September 2025. However, the pace of target-setting has slowed, and commitments decreased specifically among countries compared to the previous year.
• National net zero coverage has declined slightly because the United States formally abandoned its target. Currently, 137 of 198 national governments (including the EU and Taiwan) have net zero targets, with 67% of these targets enshrined in law or formal policy.
• Corporate target-setting remains strong, with 63% of tracked publicly listed companies having targets, covering $36.6 trillion in annual revenue (70% of total Global Forbes 2000 revenue). Coverage is near-universal in the UK and Japan, while China remains the lowest performing among major economies with only 23% of companies announcing targets.
• Subnational ambition is expanding but unevenly distributed. Regional targets now cover 2.55 billion people, representing 62% of the G7 and 55% of the G20. Japan has near-universal regional coverage, while Italy has the weakest engagement among G7 nations at 37%.
• Target integrity remains stubbornly low across all entity types. Only 7% of companies, 6.5% of regions, and 4% of cities meet the 'starting line' requirements for procedural and substantive integrity.
• Many companies rely on nature-based solutions with limited transparency. While over 25% of companies plan to use removals, only 4% have set dedicated removal targets. Nearly one-third of companies planning to buy removals rely exclusively on nature-based approaches, which are susceptible to reversal.
• Significant gaps in target-setting persist, particularly in lower-income countries and among large companies in the US and China. More than 400 of the world's largest publicly listed companies lack mitigation targets, with 30% of these concentrated in the US and 42% in China.

APA

Straub, S., Smit, S., Bammel, L., Lang, J., Kuramochi, T., Tatlow, H., Manya-Gutierrez, D. C., Green, F., Hale, T., Hsu, A., Siu, D., & Smith, S. (2025). NET ZERO STOCKTAKE 2025. Net Zero Tracker. https://ca1-nzt.edcdn.com/PDFs-and-Excels/Net_Zero_Stocktake_2025.pdf?v=1758570577

Chicago

Straub, Saskia, Sybrig Smit, Louise Bammel, John Lang, Takeshi Kuramochi, Helen Tatlow, Diego Cristobal Manya-Gutierrez, et al. NET ZERO STOCKTAKE 2025. Net Zero Tracker, 2025. https://ca1-nzt.edcdn.com/PDFs-and-Excels/Net_Zero_Stocktake_2025.pdf?v=1758570577.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{straub2025net, author = {Straub, Saskia and Smit, Sybrig and Bammel, Louise and Lang, John and Kuramochi, Takeshi and Tatlow, Helen and Manya-Gutierrez, Diego Cristobal and Green, Frances and Hale, Thomas and Hsu, Angel and Siu, Denise and Smith, Steve}, title = {{NET ZERO STOCKTAKE 2025}}, institution = {Net Zero Tracker}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://ca1-nzt.edcdn.com/PDFs-and-Excels/Net_Zero_Stocktake_2025.pdf?v=1758570577}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }