Companies' Net Zero - what to look out for as a consumer

What to look out for with regards to companies’ climate impact

So when making your spending decisions, you want to consider the climate impact (hopefully
positive) of the companies you are buying from. So which factors should you consider?

Well, first, as you know, the major factor of anthropogenic climate change is greenhouse cases
(GHG) emissions. So a company which really cares and undertakes efforts to reduce its
negative impact should be able to demonstrate gradual reduction of GHG emissions, the most
notable part of which are carbon dioxide emissions (carbon footprint). Perhaps for you it will
be difficult to judge about companies’ emissions in absolute numbers, however, what is
essential is that a company continuously and noticeably reduces its carbon footprint over time.
The second important thing is companies’ target years to achieve carbon neutrality aka Net
Zero target years when companies will have reduced their emissions to the lowest possible
level and offset the remainder with carbon capture and storage initiatives, one of the most
common examples of which is investments or donations to tree planting projects or buying
carbon credits.
So what is a good Net Zero target? The global consensus is that the global Net Zero should
be reached by 2050 to contain the global warming within 1.5 degrees as compared with the
pre-industrial level and avoid catastrophic consequences of climate change. I.e. companies
which commit to Net Zero by 2050 are in line with the global requirements; those which have
closer Net Zero targets, e.g. 2045, 2040, 2030, are doing well, great and exceptionally.

But that’s about something quite remote. 

How do you make sure a company is going to perform its climate action commitments already within the near term? Then you can check if it commitst o nearer-term targets according to Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) which formulates

requirements for companies to commit to measures helping avoid climate change by 2030.

Code2 is committed to make consumers aware of companies’ performance with regards to the
above and other factors of tackling the climate crisis and making your consumption informed,
purposeful and rewarding.