Carbon reduction is dangerously low: Study

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Based on current reduction targets, the world’s largest companies are on track to reach the scientifically-recommended level of greenhouse gas cuts by 2089, which means a delay of 39 years in the original target set to avoid dangerous climate change, reveals a research report, The Carbon Chasm, released today by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).

It shows that the Global 100 are currently on track for an annual reduction of just 1.9 per cent which is below the 3.9 per cent needed in order to cut emissions in developed economies by 80 per cent in 2050.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), developed economies must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80-95 per cent by 2050 in order to avoid dangerous climate change.

The research was conducted by the Carbon Disclosure Project, based on data reported to CDP in 2008, and supported by BT, to analyze how the world’s largest 100 companies currently set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and whether they are sufficient to combat long term climate change, said a press release.

Of those emissions reduction targets with a deadline, a majority (84 per cent) are set up to and including 2012, which correlates with the final year of the Kyoto Protocol and suggests that businesses may be waiting to hear outcomes of the UN Conference of the Parties (COP-15) meeting in Copenhagen this December before they set longer term reduction goals.

BT’s chief sustainability officer Chris Tuppen said most large companies now measure their carbon footprint and many have set carbon reduction targets.

“But how many of those targets are actually in line with the required reductions to prevent dangerous climate change? The research highlights a significant gap between what is needed from the corporate sector and what’s currently promised. We in the business world need to find a way of closing this carbon chasm,” he said.

Paul Dickinson, CEO of the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent not-for-profit organisation that holds the largest database of primary corporate climate change information in the world, said that while 73 per cent of Global 100 companies have set some form of reduction target, the majority need to be far more aggressive if they are to achieve the long-term reductions required.

“This is a time of huge opportunity for businesses to gain competitive advantage by reducing their own impact on the climate and benefit from associated cost savings, as well as sparking major innovation around the production of new, lower carbon products and services,” he added.

The report said that every company should set a CO2-e reduction target and it must have clear baseline and target years.

It also said governments need to agree clear medium and long-term reduction goals in Copenhagen to provide a framework for business to set required targets. Company targets should reflect the IPCC scientific recommendations and whilst absolute targets are preferred for clarity, aggressive intensity targets can also deliver.