A 2021 report by the UK-based Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit and Oxford Net Zero stated that over one in five of the world’s 2,000 largest publicly traded companies now have a commitment towards “net-zero” emissions to tackle climate change. Apple Amazon Google Microsoft
The top five of these companies by market cap have all set targets to become carbon neutral. These companies include Apple Inc. (net-zero by 2030), Amazon.com Inc. (2040 target), Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. (carbon neutral by 2030), Microsoft Corporation (carbon-negative enterprise by 2030), and Saudi Aramco (net-zero by 2050).
While all of the above companies have been publishing annual reports giving an insight into their sustainability efforts and how close they are to achieving their goal, there have been numerous issues reported with their claims.
The 2022 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor Report by the NewClimate Institute analyzed the claims made by 18 companies about their net-zero targets and assessed whether they are on track to achieve them.
Apple has been cited by them for their Scope 3 emissions (defined by the US Environmental Protection Agency as the “result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organisation, but that the organization indirectly impacts in its value chain”) due to the shorter lifespans and low repairability of their devices. The report also calls into question the amount of emissions Apple plans to offset using renewable energy programs and “nature-based solutions” by 2030 (25% relative to 2015), whilst currently, they only successfully offset roughly 1.5% of their total emissions with investments in organizations like Conservation International.
The e-commerce giant has put out its annual sustainability report, and announced a $2 billion Climate Pledge Fund. However, Amazon has been slammed by the report as the emissions of the company and the steps they are actively taking to bring them down as part of their daily operations are still highly-guarded information.
Google claims that it has matched 100% of its global annual electricity consumption with renewable energy and is the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable power. The company has outlined its vision to be transitioning into carbon-free energy by 2030, thereby removing the very need for carbon offsets and sequestrations. While the report is highly critical of Google’s claim of being carbon neutral since 2007 (calling it a claim of “low integrity”), it does point out that the company has made several investments in renewables for their offices and server operations. The report also says that Google has not presented a viable plan to off set its current emissions by 2030.
Microsoft is arguably the company with the loftiest goal of going carbon negative by 2030, along with targets outlined to remove all their historical carbon emissions by 2050. The company has made massive strides in terms of investment in renewable energies, and has also experimented with running their cloud servers with fuel cells instead of carbon-powered energy. However, recent years have seen a growth in their emissions (higher scope 3 emissions due to people having purchased more Windows and XBox products during the pandemic). Moreover, the company has invested in carbon offset projects that depend on avoiding emitting more carbon into the atmosphere rather than reducing the amount currently present.
Saudi Aramco
The Saudi Arabian Oil Company has set for itself a net-zero goal of 2050. However, this comes with the caveat that the company has only committed to be net-zero in Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions in wholly-owned or operated assets. This is a major issue as a majority of Aramco operations are partly owned in conjunction with several other companies, and an overwhelming majority of their emissions also come under Scope 3 emissions. Even this flimsy goal is a high bar for a company that vastly understated its emissions, according to Bloomberg News.
10 Oct 2022
Ananyanarayan Dhanabalan
