Rebecca Speare-Cole, PA sustainability reporter
Thu, 17 August 2023
The UK is the world leader in terms of the number of companies that have set or committed to science-based net zero targets, a new report shows.
The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), a global body that defines, promotes and validates the best practice in setting climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement goals of limiting warming to 1.5C, released its annual monitoring report for 2022 on Thursday.
The report shows the UK tops the G20 in terms of the number of companies to have set or committed to science-based targets as of December 2022 – with 722 firms, including 69% of the FTSE Index.
This was followed by the US with 585 companies and Japan with 398 companies.
The UK came second in terms of growth, with 181 companies to set targets in 2022, after Japan which took the lead with 201.
It comes as the report shows a significant acceleration in corporate climate action globally.
Last year saw an 87% increase in companies setting science-based targets.
More companies were setting them in 2022 than the entire prior seven-year period, the SBTi said.
Meanwhile, more than a third (34%) of the global economy by market capitalisation now have science-based targets or have committed to set them, the report says.
As of July 2022, the SBTi has accepted only new target submissions which are aligned with a 1.5C pathway, meaning the level of ambition in setting SBTi targets has now increased.
Luiz Amaral, the SBTi’s chief executive, said: “This annual update from the SBTi shows the enormous demand from the business world for credible, ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“As catastrophic floods in Pakistan to deadly heatwaves in Europe in 2022 demonstrated, the human and economic costs of climate change are already being felt around the world. Companies must act now.”
The report showed that within the G20 countries there was also strong growth in the numbers of companies with validated targets based in South Korea, Brazil, China and South Africa.
Meanwhile, five countries – Albania, Malta, Myanmar, Romania and Tunisia – had companies getting science-based targets validated for the first time in 2022.
Companies from five further countries also committed to setting science-based targets for the first time – Argentina, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Sierra Leone, and Trinidad and Tobago.
By the end of the year, there were companies with validated science-based targets in 61 countries, with companies in a further 16 countries having committed to setting targets.
Asia showed strong growth overall with a 127% increase in companies setting science-based targets in 2022.
China experienced the steepest growth curve with a 194% increase in the number of companies validated.
In terms of sectors, the materials industry experienced the greatest growth with a 160% increase in the number of companies setting targets.
Meanwhile, the top three sectors for setting targets by the end of 2022 were services, manufacturing and infrastructure, representing more than 60% of companies setting targets.
The three slowest growth sectors were power generation, biotech, healthcare and pharma, and hospitality, with the SBTi identifying them as needing urgent improvement.
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