Science Based Emissions Targets Are Playing A Greater Role

Companies have long announced initiatives to reduce emissions using targets that appear to have been chosen primarily for their roundness.

2015 saw the beginning of a campaign to encourage businesses to implement "science-based targets," which were intended to reduce emissions at the rates required to slow global warming.

But according to a recent review, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is succeeding.

In the latest report, 338 businesses were examined who made pledges in 2015 and succeeded in reducing their overall emissions by 25%. According to the list's median companies, emissions have been declining by 6.4% annually so far, which is quicker than what is required to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

With hundreds of new businesses joining in 2020, including Amazon, Facebook, and Ford, the platform's user base of contributors making pledges is expanding. More than a thousand businesses have now either agreed to establish targets or have already done so.