Companies in the Group of Seven (G7) economies are failing to meet Paris climate agreement objectives, non-profit disclosure platform CDP and global management consultancy Oliver Wyman said on Tuesday, based on current corporate pledges to cut emissions.
Under the global 2015 Paris deal, countries agreed to cut greenhouse-gas emissions fast enough to limit global warming to 2 C and aim to keep the rise below 1.5 C, which scientists say would avert some of its worst effects.
Across the G7, which consists of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, corporate emissions targets are over all on a 2.7 C warming trajectory, CDP and Oliver Wyman analysis showed.
“It is not acceptable for any country, let alone the world’s most advanced economies, to have industries displaying so little collective ambition,” Laurent Babikian, global director of capital markets at CDP, said in a statement.
“Momentum is growing, but as we approach COP27, we must get our 1.5°C goal off life support,” he added.
Collective emissions of U.S. and Canadian firms are seen matching the pace of decarbonization required to restrict global warming to 2.8 C and 3.1 C, respectively, with the study stating that it is “largely the result of companies completely lacking targets, rather than targets that lack ambition.”
The study revealed that firms in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands had the most ambitious targets to lower emissions in the G7, as they align with 2.2 C on average, while France is at 2.3 C and Britain at 2.6 C.
“The analysis highlights big differences in ambition and willingness across companies to take a lead with their targets, and the urgent need to spread best practices further and faster,” said James Davis, financial services partner at Oliver Wyman.
Nearly 200 countries will convene at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt this November, after what has been for many a devastating summer of drought, heat waves and other climate-linked extremes.
Interested in more stories about climate change? Sign up for the Globe Climate newsletter and read more from our series on climate change innovation and adaption.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.