Forty-one companies have joined the Science-Based Targets initiative since the COP21 climate negotiations in December. On the eve of the Climate Action Summit in Washington, D.C. last week, the initiative announced that a total of 155 companies have now committed to set emissions reduction targets in-line with the global effort to keep warming well below 2 degrees Celsius.
The 41 new signatories include Ben & Jerry’s, SunPower Corporation, Owens Corning, Toyota Motor Corporation, and large European retailer Metro AG.
The Science-Based Targets initiative, which is a partnership between CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project), the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), exceeded its goal to recruit 100 companies to make commitments by the end of 2015. 114 participants signed on before the COP21 negotiations concluded, including Ben & Jerry’s’ parent company Unilever.
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Since then, three more companies have had their emissions reductions targets reviewed and approved by the experts at the initiative, bringing the total to 13. Pfizer, PostNord, and the International Post Corporation (IPC) join Coca-Cola Enterprises, Dell, General Mills, P&G, Sony, and Kellogg, among others, on the list of organizations with approved targets that align with the decarbonization necessary to limit warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Each company’s commitments encompass at least Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, company-wide, for a minimum of 5 years. Combined, these 13 companies will reduce their emissions from operations by 874 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the lifetime of their targets, which Science-Based Targets claims is the equivalent of closing over 250 coal-fired power plants for a year.
Forty-five companies have targets currently under review, and the remaining companies are in the process of developing targets.
“The enthusiasm companies have shown to setting ambitious climate targets is very encouraging,” said Cynthia Cummis from WRI.
“Our technical reviewers cannot keep up with the number of targets being submitted. This is a great problem to have and a clear indication that the Paris Agreement was a turning point for climate action.”
The participating companies are headquartered in 27 countries around the world, including 77 in Europe, 34 in the Asia Pacific region, 25 in the United States and 9 in Canada.