Fossil fuel companies’ net-zero pledges ‘largely meaningless’ without better data: analysis

The net-zero emissions pledges publicized by fossil fuel companies are “largely meaningless” due to lack of clarity about indirect emissions, according to a report issued over the weekend by the group Net Zero Tracker.

Seventy-seven fossil fuel companies have net-zero pledges in place, up about 50 percent from the 51 companies that had them a year ago, according to the report. However, the majority either do not cover or do not specify whether they cover Scope 3 emissions or those generated by consumer use of their products rather than the company itself.

The report also found that of the 114 fossil fuel companies analyzed, 107 are headquartered in Group of 20 (G20) nations, all but one of which have an existing goal of being net-zero by 2050.

In conjunction with the report, the group rolled out a new indicator focusing on fuel extraction to better discern whether the entities covered are reducing the damage. This indicator is based on a combination of committing to no more coal mines, mine extensions or coal-fired power stations from 2023 onward; ending coal-fired power generation by the end of the decade for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and by 2040 for other countries; ending new oil and gas field exploration from 2023; and committing to phasing out gas and oil production by 2050.

No fossil fuel company analyzed for the report committed to every one of those targets, and no more than four were committed to any single goal.

However, the report also found that among the types of entities analyzed — including companies, nations, states/regions and cities — companies are seeing the most growth. A total of 149 nations have net-zero pledges, up from 128 last year, while state and regional pledges have grown from 115 to 145, city-level pledges have gone from 235 to 252, and companies have grown from 702 to 929. The number of companies with pledges has more than doubled since 2021, when the number stood at 417.