Good morning.
It’s Climate Week in New York, which means the city has become a parking lot for gas-fueled limos ferrying executives and diplomats to an endless series of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners featuring earnest conversations about how to fix the climate.
There are also a lot of reports coming out, including one this morning from Climate Impact Partners, assessing business efforts to address the challenge. And it’s not good news. After an explosion of commitments to net zero in 2020 and 2021, business momentum stalled. According to the report, there were no new commitments made in the last year, stalling the percentage of Fortune Global 500 companies that have made significant climate commitments at 66%. Here’s what Sheri Hickok, CEO of Climate Impact Partners, told me in previewing the report:
“The backlash (against ESG) is having an effect…The uncertainty—whether due to lack of clarity around SEC reporting, around the expense, around how you link these actions to the company’s bottom line—is causing everybody to pause.”
Still, the actions of the last few years have been significant and lasting. The report shows 76% of the Fortune Global 500 now report on annual emissions, with 55% of them even reporting on the vexing Scope 3 emissions (emissions from suppliers and customers). And the 66% of companies that have made a “meaningful commitment”—which this report defines as a target of 2030 or sooner—saw their emissions decline 7%, compared to a 3% increase among companies without a 2030 target. The UN says annual emissions reductions of 8% will be needed throughout the decade to meet its goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade. “We don’t have time for a pause,” Hickok says. You can read the full report here.
Separately, the folks at Deloitte, who sponsor this newsletter, have a new report out showing the importance of women’s sports in developing business leaders. Some 85% of surveyed women who played sports say the skills they learned were important to success in their professional careers. (Deloitte also sponsors the WNBA.)
Other news below.
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
