Science Based Targets for Sustainability What Are They & Why are They Important?

 

Our we Making Our Sustainability Goals?

Businesses are increasingly committing to ambitious sustainability goals.  The challenge is the path is not clear on how to make these and we are not achieving our goals. 

Net Zero Tracker, an independent group that follows corporate pledges, found that half the world’s largest 2,000 publicly listed companies have a net zero target. In the past 16 months, the number of companies with these aims has risen 40% from 702 in June 2022 to 1,003 in October 2023. The organization reports the corporate world is in "phase three" of the transition: they have accepted a climate issue, then made a pledge; now, they are delivering on commitments.

While companies have taken strides to act on their pledges, there are still outstanding questions about the transparency and meaningful steps towards change, leading both consumers and even UN leaders to call for tougher standards and greater corporate transparency. There is optimism businesses can make an impact, but the road to developing and executing on concrete plans may be rocky.

 

When companies say they are planning to hit net zero, most are aligning with the Paris Agreement's goal of keeping average global warming to 1.5C (34.7F).  One way to do this is to reduce the level of greenhouse gas emissions. Companies can also off-set their contributions to zero-out their impact.

A pledge to plant trees, for example, could possibly enable firms to achieve this (although there is a great deal of debate about the effectiveness of these schemes); another approach might be transitioning a petrol- and diesel-powered transportation fleet to electric, like the US government has attempted to do through a 2021 executive order. Companies such as Apple, Shell and Volkswagen have tapped into the carbon credit market to reach their net zero goals.

Currently, roughly 96% of the largest 250 companies worldwide self-report sustainability matters, but so far, there is no globally agreed upon set of standards and frameworks to vet and measure these reports.

As of this year, progress has been slow.  Of the 140 targets the United Nations is able to measure they have been "weak and insufficient" according to the U.N. latest progress report in 2023.  Another 30% have gone backwards.  If this trend continues it can be catastrophic.

With the word failing to make their targets for sustainability it is important we focus on science-based targets for our goals.  Science-based targets are important for meeting sustainable goals because they provide a quantifiable and measurable framework for organizations to align their efforts with the broader objectives of sustainable development.  We all need to act now.