Companies call for net-zero recovery from Covid-19

DSM, Bayer, Symrise, Henkel and Takasago International are among 155 companies signing a joint release by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), the UN Global Compact, and the We Mean Business coalition. This urged governments “to align their Covid-19 economic aid and recovery efforts with the latest climate science” and “prioritise a faster and fairer transition from a grey to a green economy”, with net zero carbon emissions.

The signatories have over five million total employees and a combined market capitalisation of over $2.4. They span 34 sectors, including finance, fashion, food and beverage, transport, construction, telecoms, insurance, consumer products and pharmaceuticals, as well as chemicals. All have set their own science-based emissions reduction targets or have committed to doing so.

The SBTi, a collaboration between CDP, the UN Global Compact, World Resources Institute and WWF, says that it independently assesses and validates corporate climate targets against the latest climate science. Together with the UN Global Compact and the We Mean Business coalition, it has created a campaign to work to limit overall average temperature rises to 1.5°C or less.