Gaining speed on the road to carbon neutrality

The pursuit of a carbon-neutral future is accelerating. Through the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, nations pledged to limit climate change by limiting the rise in global temperatures to no more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, collective global emissions must reach zero by 2050, if not sooner.

Over the past five years, governments, businesses and institutions around the world have been proliferating net zero and other climate-related commitments. While the rapid growth is striking, the commitments and associated roadmaps are not uniform. Historically, EU-based corporations have been more proactive in adopting climate-related goals, largely due to strict regulations and a strong emphasis on sustainability within the European Union. But American corporations are catching up, leading to increasing pressure from investors, consumers and government incentives. Companies in sectors including technology, finance, power generation and fossil fuels are well ahead of companies in biotech, healthcare and retail. Growing global emphasis and healthy skepticism are leading companies to ensure the integrity of net-zero commitments and develop plans to achieve them by 2050. (Jay Cuclis, Michael Watson, Ingrid York, more at lexology.com)