One in three companies missed GHG targets in 2020: Bain

Quantum Commodity Intelligence - One in three businesses globally failed to meet their decarbonisation targets for 2020, according to analysis by consultants Bain.

The company found from analysing submissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project that 31% of companies with pledges missed their scope 1 and scope 2 absolute emission reduction targets, with more than a quarter missing them by 20% or more.

The research, which was at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, shows the challenge of meeting investor-encouraged goals to decarbonise, the researchers said.

"CEOs have been bold in setting ambitious targets, while the roadmap to full delivery is still unclear and highly challenging," said Jenny Davis-Peccoud, co-leader of Bain & Company's Sustainability & Responsibility practice.

"Successful leaders bring together what we call 'dreamers' and 'doers' in their executive teams to get to pragmatic solutions to visionary goals, steering toward net zero even through the macroeconomic and political turbulence in which we find ourselves." 

The number of companies that have committed to science-based targets to the CDP, a non-profit database of pledges, has almost quadrupled from just over 750 in 2020 to just under 3,000 in April 2022

More than half of science-based commitments come from businesses in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, with 19% coming from the Americas and 24% from the Asia Pacific.