The number of companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list that have made climate pledges has increased from 417 in 2020 to 909 in 2023, according to the latest Net Zero Tracker report.
In the UK alone, the number of net-zero targets set has jumped by 60 per cent, from 37 in December 2020 to 61 firms this year.
The tracker is run by researchers associated with the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit and the University of Oxford, among other organisations, and it was created to monitor the decarbonisation progress of companies, cities and countries around the world.
The team has warned that, while the number of targets set has soared, credibility gaps remain that could undermine progress towards net zero.
For example, only 4 per cent of the companies’ net-zero commitments globally meet the UN's 'Race to Zero' campaign's “starting line criteria”, which include conditions such as covering all greenhouse gases, clear conditions set for the use of offsets and...