While some COP28 sponsors have committed to setting net-zero targets, only one company’s goals align with an internationally-recognised target system.
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Most sponsors of the UN climate talks in Dubai have made no commitments to cutting their greenhouse gas emissions in line with net-zero targets set by the United Nations, according to a new report.
Carried out by Spendwell and published this week, the analysis ranked the climate commitments of 24 public, private, and state-owned companies sponsoring COP28, based on the independent, UN-backed Science Based Targets initiative as well as Climate Group’s RE100 and EP100 programmes, all of which require “significant commitments to action by corporations” and involve “rigorous, scientifically guided and independently approved goal- and target-setting.”
Of the 24 companies sponsoring COP28, only one – Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola – has signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), a partnered venture between nonprofit CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) set up in 2015 to help companies set emission reduction targets in line with climate science and the 1.5C global warming threshold outlined in the Paris Agreement. Despite setting near-term SBT targets covering Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, Iberdrola did not commit to RE100 nor EP100 programmes, which focus on renewable energy consumption and efficiency, respectively.
Most corporate sponsors – Bank of America, IMB, and Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oil field services companies – have made no commitments to reach net zero in any time period under the UN-backed target system. According to Spendwell, global accountancy firm EY, which was hired to independently verify the climate records of all COP28 sponsors, has yet to set a decarbonisation target, though it has committed to doing so. The company has also set a 100% renewable energy target, though it has yet to commit to the EP100 energy efficiency programme.
Lincoln Bauer, founder of Spendwell, called COP28 sponsorship “a giant greenwashing exercise.”
“Science-based targets are the gold standard validation system for companies. The fact that so few of the sponsors are signed up to their net zero targets, and that EY itself, chosen to verify the climate commitments of the sponsors, doesn’t have set targets yet, suggests this is just greenwashing,” he said.
This is not the first time COP sponsors are in the spotlight. Last year, COP27 sponsor Coca-Cola, the world’s largest non-alcoholic beverage company, was found to have substantially increased its plastic use ahead of the summit.
The analysis follows another allegation of corruption against the COP28 presidency, which was found to have set out plans to use the summit to pitch fossil fuels deals to foreign governments.
Featured image: Michael Coghlan/Flickr
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