Nearly a third or 30 per cent of the biggest corporate emitters have long-term (2050) climate targets aligned with 1.5C. That is according to the State of Transition Report 2024 analysis published by the Transition Pathway Initiative Centre (TPI Centre) based at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Since 2020, the share of companies with long-term (2050) emissions targets aligned with 1.5C has grown from 7 per cent to 30 per cent. However, despite the positive growth, the credibility of long-term climate ambitions is often unclear, with many companies lacking intermediate targets and clear quantifications of the key elements of their climate strategies.

The sectors most aligned are diversified mining (50 per cent), steel (46 per cent) and electricity (41per cent). The least aligned are food producers (8 per cent) and oil & gas companies (6 per cent).

By region, European, Australasian and Japanese companies’ climate targets have the highest alignment at 66 per cent, 64 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively. Conversely, in China, 82 per cent of companies are either not aligned or lack suitable disclosure of relevant information.

Simon Dietz, TPI Centre Research director and professor of environmental policy, Department of Geography, LSE, said: “This report also gives investors the opportunity to closely examine the concrete plans of the highest-emitting public companies for translating net-zero ambitions into actionable steps. This analysis offers unique and in-depth insight.”

The State of Transition Report 2024 bases its analysis on the Carbon Performance Assessment of 409 companies and the progress of over 1,000 of the world’s highest-emitting public companies, which is tracked across 23 indicators ranging from ‘unaware’ of climate change to ‘transition planning’. These are the key public companies for both investors and the climate, collectively worth around $39tr.

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