Can Science-Based Targets Make the Private Sector Paris-Aligned? A Review of the Emerging Evidence
Bjørn, Anders ; Tilsted, Joachim Peter LU
; Addas, Amr
and Lloyd, Shannon M.
(2022)
In Current Climate Change Reports
8(2).
p.53-69
- Abstract
Purpose of Review: Companies increasingly set science-based targets (SBTs) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We review literature on SBTs to understand their potential for aligning corporate emissions with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Recent Findings: SBT adoption by larger, more visible companies in high-income countries has accelerated. These companies tend to have a good prior reputation for managing climate impacts and most appear on track for meeting their scope 1 and 2 SBTs. More research is needed to distinguish between substantive and symbolic target-setting and understand how companies plan to achieve established SBTs. There is no consensus on whether current target-setting methods appropriately allocate... (More)
Purpose of Review: Companies increasingly set science-based targets (SBTs) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We review literature on SBTs to understand their potential for aligning corporate emissions with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Recent Findings: SBT adoption by larger, more visible companies in high-income countries has accelerated. These companies tend to have a good prior reputation for managing climate impacts and most appear on track for meeting their scope 1 and 2 SBTs. More research is needed to distinguish between substantive and symbolic target-setting and understand how companies plan to achieve established SBTs. There is no consensus on whether current target-setting methods appropriately allocate emissions to individual companies or how much freedom companies should have in setting SBTs. Current emission accounting practices, target-setting methods, SBT governance, and insufficient transparency may allow companies to report some emission reductions that are not real and may result in insufficient collective emission reductions. Lower rates of SBT diffusion in low- and middle-income countries, in certain emission-intensive sectors, and by small- and medium-sized enterprises pose potential barriers for mainstreaming SBTs. While voluntary SBTs cannot substitute for more ambitious climate policy, it is unclear whether they delay or encourage policy needed for Paris alignment. Summary: We find evidence that SBT adoption corresponds to increased climate action. However, there is a need for further research from a diversity of approaches to better understand how SBTs may facilitate or hinder a just transition to low-carbon societies.
(Less)
- author
- Bjørn, Anders
; Tilsted, Joachim Peter
LU
; Addas, Amr
and Lloyd, Shannon M.
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Climate change, Corporate emissions, Literature review, Paris Agreement, Science-based targets
- in
- Current Climate Change Reports
- volume
- 8
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 53 - 69
- publisher
- Springer
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85128884596
- pmid:35854785
- ISSN
- 2198-6061
- DOI
- 10.1007/s40641-022-00182-w
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Funding Information: We thank SBTi for providing us the data behind its target progress analysis. We also thank the authors of several of the studies included in this review and the two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments. This research was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grants Program (Grant Number RGPIN/6956-2017), the Concordia University Horizon Fellows Program and the V. Kann Rasmussen Foundation. Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).
- id
- 84549ca0-af78-4bee-98e4-9480cfd63f58
- date added to LUP
- 2022-05-10 10:09:40
- date last changed
- 2024-06-13 12:20:57
@article{84549ca0-af78-4bee-98e4-9480cfd63f58,
abstract = {{<p>Purpose of Review: Companies increasingly set science-based targets (SBTs) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We review literature on SBTs to understand their potential for aligning corporate emissions with the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. Recent Findings: SBT adoption by larger, more visible companies in high-income countries has accelerated. These companies tend to have a good prior reputation for managing climate impacts and most appear on track for meeting their scope 1 and 2 SBTs. More research is needed to distinguish between substantive and symbolic target-setting and understand how companies plan to achieve established SBTs. There is no consensus on whether current target-setting methods appropriately allocate emissions to individual companies or how much freedom companies should have in setting SBTs. Current emission accounting practices, target-setting methods, SBT governance, and insufficient transparency may allow companies to report some emission reductions that are not real and may result in insufficient collective emission reductions. Lower rates of SBT diffusion in low- and middle-income countries, in certain emission-intensive sectors, and by small- and medium-sized enterprises pose potential barriers for mainstreaming SBTs. While voluntary SBTs cannot substitute for more ambitious climate policy, it is unclear whether they delay or encourage policy needed for Paris alignment. Summary: We find evidence that SBT adoption corresponds to increased climate action. However, there is a need for further research from a diversity of approaches to better understand how SBTs may facilitate or hinder a just transition to low-carbon societies.</p>}},
author = {{Bjørn, Anders and Tilsted, Joachim Peter and Addas, Amr and Lloyd, Shannon M.}},
issn = {{2198-6061}},
keywords = {{Climate change; Corporate emissions; Literature review; Paris Agreement; Science-based targets}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{53--69}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Current Climate Change Reports}},
title = {{Can Science-Based Targets Make the Private Sector Paris-Aligned? A Review of the Emerging Evidence}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40641-022-00182-w}},
doi = {{10.1007/s40641-022-00182-w}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2022}},
}