Research from environmental charity WWF suggests that fewer than one in five of the UK’s largest public companies have credible plans to slash their emissions to net-zero.

Under the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to within 1.5°C, the world must reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In June 2019, the UK became the first major economy to enter into law its net-zero target. However, it has only fully implemented 11 of 92 policy recommendations from the independent climate change committee and it is not on track to meet its long-term or medium-term carbon budgets

A letter to ministers, which has been signed by more than 30 organisations, calls for large companies to be forced to disclose their plans for decarbonisation. It says the government should clearly lay out when it intends to do this.

“In other jurisdictions, the European Union, seeking to build its green finance credentials, has announced an intent to require transition...