Corporate Climate Commitments and Greenwashing
Why thousands of companies have pledged net zero, what the commitments actually mean, and how to distinguish real action from greenwashing.
The Net Zero Explosion
By 2024, companies accounting for over 90% of global GDP had set some form of net-zero or emissions reduction target. Every major oil company, airline, bank, and tech firm has a climate pledge. The proliferation is partly genuine -- corporate leaders recognize climate risk -- and partly defensive: companies without targets face pressure from investors, customers, regulators, and employees.
But the quality of commitments varies enormously. A 2022 analysis by the UN High-Level Expert Group found that the integrity of corporate net-zero pledges was 'severely lacking.' Many targets rely on carbon offsets rather than actual emission reductions. Others cover only direct operations ('Scope 1 and 2') while ignoring supply chains and product use ('Scope 3'), which typically account for 80-95% of total emissions. Some pledges lack interim targets, meaning a company can claim net zero by 2050 without doing anything before 2049.
