Consistent weaknesses found in corporate net zero claims

The Carbon Reduction Institute (CRI) has completed 48 climate disclosure assessments using its new Climate Disclosure Watchdog tool, with 20 reports already published, identifying consistent weaknesses in the quality of corporate climate disclosures.

The research found:

• 23 organisations made net zero commitments. None met CRI’s criteria for a complete and credible pathway to achieving that target.
• Incomplete emissions inventories were the most common issue, particularly the exclusion of Scope 3 emissions while organisations waited for better supplier data.
• 20 organisations requested better emissions information from suppliers while not publishing sufficient information themselves for their own customers to calculate supplier-specific emissions, creating what CRI describes as a “supplier-data loop”.
   

The findings come as the federal government moves to close the Climate Active certification scheme (announced 24 July) and steps away from reviewing voluntary climate claims, placing greater responsibility on businesses to ensure their public claims are supported by robust evidence.

“The problem isn’t that organisations lack climate ambition. It’s that many can’t yet demonstrate, with evidence, how they’ll get there,” said Rob Cawthorne, CEO of the Carbon Reduction Institute.

“A net zero target should be backed by a complete emissions inventory, a credible transition pathway and transparent disclosure that stakeholders can actually test.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Fahmi Ruddin Hidayat