New research by CDP and the United Nations Global Compact on behalf of the Science Based Targets initiative calls on the
largest G7 companies to take ambitious climate action
No major G7 stock indexes are currently on a 2°C pathway, much less the 1.5°C that is so urgently needed. Four of the
seven indexes are on dangerous temperature pathways of 3°C or above.G7 indexes with a higher share of emissions covered by science-based targets (SBTs) result in lower overall temperature
ratings. 71% of Germany’s DAX 30 companies’ emissions are covered by SBTs, resulting in the lowest index temperature
rating of 2.2°C, while less than 1% of Canada’s SPTSX 60 companies are covered by SBTs, resulting in the joint-highest
temperature rating of 3.1°C.Companies with science-based targets are already cutting emissions at scale - and today’s research calls on all businesses to take immediate action to align with a 1.5°C pathway. SBTi identifies
four key levers that governments, investors and businesses can use to unlock breakthrough climate action through
science-based targets.
London and New York, June 2021. New research from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a body enabling businesses to set ambitious emissions reduction targets, reveals that none of the G7’s leading stock indexes are currently aligned with a 1.5°C or 2°C pathway1 and calls on the largest listed G7 companies to urgently increase climate action.
In the lead up to the G7 Summit, the analysis shows that the G7 countries’ leading indexes2 are on an average
temperature pathway of 2.95°C,3 according to their constituents’ current corporate climate ambitions. Stock indexes, composed of stocks of the most
significant companies listed on a country’s largest exchange, are vital benchmarks to understand market trends.
The report, prepared by CDP and the UN Global Compact on behalf of the SBTi, finds that four of the seven indexes are on dangerous temperature pathways of 3°C or above. Notably, fossil fuels are a key contributor to the emissions of all seven indexes, making up 70% of Canada’s SPTSX 60
3.1°C temperature rating and almost 50% of Italy’s FTSE MIB 2.7°C rating.
Lila Karbassi, Chief of Programmes, UN Global Compact and SBTi Board Chair, said: “G7 companies have the potential to cause a ‘domino effect’ of positive change across the wider global economy. This
report highlights the urgent need for markets and investors to deliver on the goals of the Paris Agreement. As the G7
meets this week, Governments must go further to incentivize ambitious science-based target setting.”
Aligning investment with 1.5°C
G7 ministers responsible for climate and environment recently urged businesses and investors to align their portfolios
with the Paris Agreement goals and set science-based net zero targets by 2050 at the latest. Passive investing currently
makes up around 40% of US and 20% of European funds, but passive investors are warned that just 19% of listed companies
in these seven leading indexes have climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement.
The UK government plans to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035, in line with a 1.5°C pathway. Encouragingly, the SBTi finds
that 35 of the FTSE 100 companies have already committed to align with 1.5°C. However, despite significant progress in
the adoption of science-based climate targets among FTSE companies, some of the largest emitters still do not have
ambitious climate targets, resulting in an overall index temperature rating of 3.1°C (see Fig.1).
Despite the findings, momentum for climate action in G7 countries is growing. Of all corporate greenhouse gas emissions
reduction targets disclosed to CDP in 2020, 64% of targets were set by companies headquartered in G7 countries. Overall,
2020 was a milestone year for climate commitments, with the annual rate of adoption of science-based targets doubling in
2020 versus 2015-2019.
Alberto Carrillo Pineda, Director of science-based targets at CDP and a Steering Committee Member at the SBTi, said:"Ignoring climate science is like continuing smoking despite knowing the risks. Climate and environmental breakdown is
the biggest health, economic and societal challenge of our time - it requires immediate action from the world’s largest
companies. Today’s findings highlight vital progress, but show there’s more to be done to incentivize firms to set
science-based climate targets and accelerate the pathway to net-zero.”
Urgent climate action
Today’s report also identifies four urgent climate actions for financial institutions, corporate actors, investors and
governments. Firstly, businesses and governments must collaborate to harness the “ambition loop”, a positive feedback
cycle in which private sector action and government policies reinforce one another, such as the recent Executive Order on Climate-Related Financial Risk by the US Government that introduced a requirement for major federal suppliers to set science-based targets.
Secondly, corporations must work to decarbonise supply chains by engaging with suppliers. Thirdly, investors should
embed science-based targets into sustainability-linked bonds and climate financial standards.
Finally, financial institutions should aim to create a domino effect in all sectors of the economy through setting
portfolio-level science-based targets and engagement with underlying assets. One such example is the CDP Science-Based
Targets campaign, which coordinates global financial institutions to engage the world's highest impact companies to set
1.5°C-aligned science-based targets.
In the midst of a growing number of net zero commitments that aren’t always backed up by short-term action,
science-based targets are answering the need for nearer term, 2030 plans, through interim targets towards a net-zero
future.
Firms are encouraged to join the 570 companies already signed up to the SBTi’s Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign to make their critical contribution to limiting the worst impacts of climate change ahead of the COP26
conference in Glasgow.
The full report, ‘Taking the Temperature: Assessing and scaling-up climate ambition in the G7 business sector’ can be
accessed on the SBTi website.
Fig. 1 - The temperature alignment of G7 stock indexes and percentage of Index company emissions covered by
science-based targets.
1 Based on disclosed target information, each company is assigned a temperature rating. Public targets were translated
into temperature ratings via the CDP-WWF temperature rating methodology. This method endorsed by the SBTi to assess portfolio alignment of temperature ratings
provides a science based approach to assess targets not validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Those
validated by the SBTi are translated into a temperature rating (2C, well-below 2C, 1.5C) as part of the approval
process.
If the company does not have an approved SBT or has not disclosed a target via CDP, the company is given a default
temperature rating of 3.2C. This rating is based on 2100 warming projections based on current pledges. The analysis focuses only on mid term targets - GHG reduction targets with target years
between 2025 and 2035 - given the urgency to halve emissions by 2030. The temperature rating takes into account
emissions from the listed companies’ own operations and across their value chains (scopes 1+2+3).
2 Germany’s DAX 30, France’s CAC 40, Italy’s FTSE MIB, UK’s FTSE 100, Japan’s NIKKEI 225, Canada’s SPTSX 60 and US’s S 500.
3 Weighted average of the G7 index temperature ratings is 2.95°C
About the Science Based Targets initiative
The Science Based Targets initiative mobilizes companies to set science-based targets and boost their competitive
advantage in the transition to a zero-carbon economy. It is a collaboration between CDP, the United Nations Global
Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and one of the We Mean Business
Coalition commitments. The initiative defines and promotes best practice in science-based target setting, offers
resources and guidance to reduce barriers to adoption, and independently assesses and approves companies’ targets.