Hundreds of companies that had committed to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C have failed to submit sufficiently ambitious climate plans. The independent body overseeing their strategies thus sent giants like Walmart, Microsoft back to the drawing board. and Twitter, but also the Quebec cooperative Agropur and the parent company of Tim Hortons.
In 2021, during COP26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, thousands of companies committed to significantly reducing their GHG emissions. More than 1,000 of them said they wanted to adopt objectives compatible with maximum climate warming of 1.5°C, as provided for in the Paris Agreement, sealed in 2015. To achieve this, they committed to submit a detailed plan to reduce their emissions to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an independent body responsible for verifying its scientific basis.
However, in the last few days, SBTi has removed the commitment of more than 400 companies from its database. They either failed to submit a detailed plan within the required deadlines or failed to submit a sufficiently ambitious climate plan. Among them, we find such big names as Amazon, Microsoft, ArcelorMittal, Walmart and Unilever.
The notice “Commitment withdrawn” was affixed to these companies on the initiative website.
“This demonstrates how transparent and rigorous the science-based goals are. The role of the SBTi is to set standards consistent with science,” the organization declared last July, when it announced its desire to designate organizations that do not meet its criteria. The credibility of the initiative was at stake, she asserted. “Not only does this increase transparency and accountability for commitments and possible validation, but it strongly discourages companies from making commitments without taking action. »
Around fifteen Canadian companies are among the number, including Nutrien (formerly PotashCorp), the Toronto firm specializing in solar energy SkyPower Global, the Montreal-based Delmar International and the parent company of the Tim Hortons chain, Restaurant Brands International.
Change in methodology
Ditto for the Quebec giant Agropur, which also wanted to explain to the Duty why the initiative removed its commitment from its database. “Last year, SBTi changed its methodology. Business efforts must now be aligned to limit global warming to 1.5°C. These are more aggressive ambitions,” explains the communications director of the agricultural cooperative, Guillaume Bérubé.
Agropur’s climate plan for 2031 was instead based on GHG reduction objectives which aimed to limit warming to 2°C by 2050. “Our teams are currently working to adjust our targets according to this new scenario,” specifies Mr. Bérubé.
He also concedes that Agropur has still not established a plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. “We are working on interim targets at the moment. We have the ambition to achieve carbon neutrality. »
Mr. Bérubé indicates that the challenge is significant: “For our objectives to make sense, the entire industry must have the same ambitions. Yes, we work on our factories, but we also need to work with producers to reduce emissions on the farm and work with our customers to make everyone more efficient — in terms of energy consumption, for example. »