Chemical manufacturers are falling short when it comes to clearly reporting the expected impacts of their decarbonization measures, according to a study from sustainability tech firm Clarity AI.
The study analyzed climate transition plans from over 300 of the world's highest-emitting corporations across sectors like oil and gas, utilities and chemicals. While more than 80% of the companies reported on their decarbonization initiatives, only 40% quantified the anticipated emissions reductions from those efforts, the study shows.
In the chemical sector, 44% of firms failed to measure the projected impact of their decarbonization actions. This transparency gap was even more pronounced in the oil and gas industry, where 62% of companies did not quantify emissions reductions expected from their transition plans.
"Investors want to understand whether companies have a realistic plan to actually achieve their lofty carbon reduction targets," said Nico Fettes, Clarity AI's director of Cclimate. "Just listing decarbonization measures without modeling their forecasted impact provides incomplete information."
The study also found many manufacturers relied on decarbonization strategies like carbon credits and negative emissions technologies, such as carbon capture, over carbon-reduction strategies.
