Navigating net zero: Turning climate strategy into corporate strategy

Sylvera published a paper on climate and corporate strategy in December 2024. In the UK, the new Labour government committed in their manifesto to mandating all FTSE 100 companies to develop and implement ‘credible’ net zero transition plans. Although the paper found that 9 in 10 companies in the UK and US have increased their investment in net zero initiatives in the last two years, 24 percent of those surveyed are very concerned about the brand and reputational damage associated with net zero missteps.

How to unlock billions in carbon market demand

Patch, the carbon platform, published a guidance report for the demand side of the carbon markets in November 2024. The organisation spoke with hundreds of carbon credit buyers to find out what challenges they face – and how they are solving them. The report found that of the 100 biggest carbon credit buyers, only 15 percent have a dedicated carbon team. However, it takes the average buyer 53 hours to complete a comprehensive due diligence review.

Nature Finance and Biodiversity Credits: A Private Sector Roadmap to Finance and Act on Nature

In October 2024, the World Economic Forum collaborated with McKinsey & Company to produce a roadmap for the private sector to finance and act on nature. It argues that since the adoption of the Global Biodiversity Framework in 2022, opportunities for the private sector to engage with nature have grown rapidly. However, despite private financing rising to over $102 billion in 2023, a $700 billion annual gap remains to adequately fund nature.

Through the wilderness: The role of insurance in unlocking nature finance

Howden and Pollination collaborated to publish a report on the role of insurance in unlocking finance for nature. Released in October 2024, it covers the current state of nature finance; the current state of insurance for nature finance and the nexus between the two. To enable investment in nature, the report argues that the insurance sector can play four core roles including risk transfer, protection of natural assets and enabling trading in environmental markets.

SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard

The SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard is the world’s first framework for corporate net-zero target setting in line with climate science. This is a key resource for corporates developing their emission reduction strategies. The Standard covers near-term and long-term targets; residual emissions and beyond value chain mitigation.

Demand for low-quality offsets by major companies undermines climate integrity of the VCM

For this study, the researchers focused on the twenty companies retiring the most offsets from the voluntary carbon market between 2020 and 2023. Published in Nature Communications in August 2024, the study questioned whether their offsets could be considered high quality. NOTE: The ICVCM’s Core Carbon Principles set a framework to assess quality, signalling a move to higher standards across the market. This study concluded that many credits are low quality and that 87% are unlikely to create additional emission reductions.

Study of sustainability leads at large UK businesses

Insurance company, Gallagher, surveyed 100 sustainability business leaders with more than 250 employees. It found that nearly two-thirds will meet their net zero goals by purchasing carbon credits and that they are willing to spend an average of £20 million on carbon credit solutions. This study was published in August 2024.

Science-based targets miss the mark

This peer-reviewed critique of science-based targets highlights specific discussions around removal and carbon credits. Published in Communications Earth & Environment in July 2024, it says that companies condense complex climate science to underpin their net zero targets and argues that ‘a narrow conceptualisation of science to guide and justify targets for individual companies or countries is misleading’. NOTE: Corporates should refer to guidance on target setting.

Statement on effectiveness of corporate carbon offsetting as an alternative to emissions abatement

This is a statement of a literature review commissioned by the SBTi to assess the effectiveness of corporate carbon credit use. Published in July 2024, it has been criticised for its research question that positions carbon credit use as an alternative, rather than an addition, to direct emission reduction from the value chain. NOTE: The paper itself states that there is not enough literature available to credibly answer its research question, and there have been questions about whether that was the right question to ask.

Evidence synthesis report on the effectiveness of carbon credits

This report, published in July 2024, synthesises the SBTi’s research into the effectiveness of environmental attribute certificates. As the first of three parts, this edition focuses on carbon credits. It analysed 406 pieces of evidence to conclude that carbon credits can be ineffective for delivering mitigation outcomes and that there could be clear risks to the corporate use of carbon credits for offsetting. NOTE: This is in contrast to the findings of other studies.