The roster of fossil fuel companies setting net-zero emissions targets is skyrocketing, but, for the most part, despite their haughty promises, otheir general success rate is hit-or-miss, with most failing to address key concerns, making them more talk than walk.
A total of 75 of the world’s largest 112 fossil fuel companies have committed to reaching net-zero — the point at which greenhouse gas emissions are negated by deep cuts in output elsewhere and methods to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide.
And that figure is up from just 51 a year ago, according to Net Zero Tracker, run in part by the Britain-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit and the University of Oxford.
But while these companies may aim high, most targets goals are less than transparent on Scope 3 emissions and don’t include short-term reduction plans.
That made them “largely meaningless,” an industry report conducted by the journal Science said.
The report likewise found that none of the fossil fuel companies were making the needed commitments to move away from fossil fuel use.
Currently, about 4,000 countries, states, regions, cities and companies globally have now committed to net-zero.
“We haven’t yet seen a huge move from fossil fuel companies or other companies on meeting those (guidelines), so there’s still a lot of work to do to come up to that level,” said Thomas Hale of the University of Oxford, who co-authored the report
By Gloria Dickie and Simon Jessop/Reuters
