Only 16% of Largest Companies on Track for Net Zero Goals with Nearly Half Seeing Increased Emissions, Accenture Analysis Finds
Accenture's 'Destination Net Zero' report reveals only 16% of the world's largest companies are on track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, while 45% saw increased carbon emissions. The analysis of 2,000 major companies shows that while net zero target-setting has stalled at 37%, 52% have reduced both emissions and emissions intensity since 2016. AI adoption for decarbonization remains low at 14%, with AI-related emissions projected to increase 10-fold by 2030. European companies lead in net zero targets (64%) and AI adoption for decarbonization (20%), significantly outperforming Asia Pacific and North American counterparts.
Il rapporto 'Destination Net Zero' di Accenture rivela che solo il 16% delle più grandi aziende del mondo è in linea per raggiungere emissioni nette zero entro il 2050, mentre il 45% ha registrato un aumento delle emissioni di carbonio. L'analisi di 2.000 grandi aziende mostra che, mentre la definizione di obiettivi per le emissioni nette zero si è bloccata al 37%, il 52% ha ridotto sia le emissioni sia l'intensità delle emissioni dal 2016. L'adozione dell'IA per la decarbonizzazione rimane bassa al 14%, con le emissioni legate all'IA che si prevede aumenteranno di dieci volte entro il 2030. Le aziende europee guidano nella definizione di obiettivi di emissioni nette zero (64%) e nell'adozione dell'IA per la decarbonizzazione (20%), superando significativamente i loro omologhi dell'Asia Pacifico e del Nord America.
El informe 'Destination Net Zero' de Accenture revela que solo el 16% de las mayores empresas del mundo están en camino de lograr emisiones netas cero para 2050, mientras que el 45% vio un aumento en las emisiones de carbono. El análisis de 2,000 grandes empresas muestra que, aunque la fijación de objetivos de emisiones netas cero se ha estancado en el 37%, el 52% ha reducido tanto las emisiones como la intensidad de las emisiones desde 2016. La adopción de IA para la descarbonización sigue siendo baja, con un 14%, y se proyecta que las emisiones relacionadas con la IA aumenten diez veces para 2030. Las empresas europeas lideran en objetivos de emisiones netas cero (64%) y en la adopción de IA para la descarbonización (20%), superando significativamente a sus contrapartes de Asia-Pacífico y América del Norte.
악센츄어의 'Destination Net Zero' 보고서에 따르면, 세계 최대 규모의 기업 중 오직 16%만이 2050년까지 탄소 중립 목표를 달성할 수 있는 경로에 있으며, 45%는 탄소 배출이 증가했습니다. 2,000개의 주요 기업을 분석한 결과, 탄소 중립 목표 설정은 37%에서 정체된 반면, 52%가 2016년 이후로 탄소 배출량과 배출 강도를 모두 줄였다는 것을 보여줍니다. 탈탄소화를 위한 AI 채택은 14%로 낮고, AI와 관련된 배출량은 2030년까지 10배 증가할 것으로 예상됩니다. 유럽 기업들은 탄소 중립 목표(64%)와 탈탄소화를 위한 AI 채택(20%)에서 선두를 달리며 아시아 태평양 및 북미 기업들을 크게 능가하고 있습니다.
Le rapport 'Destination Net Zero' d'Accenture révèle que seulement 16 % des plus grandes entreprises du monde sont sur la bonne voie pour atteindre des émissions nettes nulles d'ici 2050, tandis que 45 % ont vu leurs émissions de carbone augmenter. L'analyse de 2 000 grandes entreprises montre que, bien que la mise en place d'objectifs de zéro émission nette se soit stabilisée à 37 %, 52 % ont réduit à la fois les émissions et l'intensité des émissions depuis 2016. L'adoption de l'IA pour la décarbonisation reste faible à 14 %, avec des émissions liées à l'IA qui devraient augmenter de dix fois d'ici 2030. Les entreprises européennes sont en tête des objectifs de zéro émission nette (64 %) et de l'adoption de l'IA pour la décarbonisation (20 %), surpassant donc de manière significative leurs homologues de la zone Asie-Pacifique et d'Amérique du Nord.
Der Bericht 'Destination Net Zero' von Accenture zeigt, dass nur 16% der größten Unternehmen der Welt auf dem Weg sind, bis 2050 Netto-Null-Emissionen zu erreichen, während 45% steigende Kohlenstoffemissionen verzeichneten. Die Analyse von 2.000 großen Unternehmen zeigt, dass während die Festlegung von Netto-Null-Zielen bei 37% stagniert, 52% sowohl die Emissionen als auch die Emissionsintensität seit 2016 reduziert haben. Die Einführung von KI zur Dekarbonisierung bleibt mit 14% niedrig, und die KI-bezogenen Emissionen werden voraussichtlich bis 2030 um das Zehnfache ansteigen. Europäische Unternehmen führen bei den Netto-Null-Zielen (64%) und der KI-Adoption zur Dekarbonisierung (20%) und schneiden damit deutlich besser ab als ihre Pendants im asiatisch-pazifischen Raum und in Nordamerika.
- 52% of analyzed companies have reduced both carbon emissions and emissions intensity since 2016
- Five key decarbonization levers are adopted by at least 80% of companies
- 30% of companies are adopting 15 or more decarbonization levers
- European companies show strong leadership with 64% having net zero targets
- Only 16% of companies are on track to reach 2050 net zero goals
- 45% of companies increased carbon emissions
- Net zero target-setting has stalled at 37% of companies
- AI-related emissions projected to increase from 68 to 718 million tons CO2e by 2030
- Only 14% of companies use AI for carbon emissions reduction
Insights
The findings reveal concerning trends in corporate decarbonization efforts. With only
The projected 10-fold increase in AI-related emissions to
The current
AI boom could further threaten 2050 decarbonization commitments unless used responsibly and scaled to its full potential as a lever of achieving net zero
Despite net zero target-setting stalling, majority of companies have cut carbon emissions (Graphic: Business Wire)
In its fourth year, Accenture's "Destination Net Zero" report is an analysis of net zero commitments, carbon reduction activities and emissions data for the 2,000 biggest companies worldwide. The report found that while full net zero target-setting has stalled at
“A majority of the world's largest companies are now cutting their emissions even as the size of their operations and revenues grow. While this is a significant milestone, to get to net zero by 2050 all of us need to move faster, together, to reinvent sustainable value chains using deep collaboration and transformative technologies,” said Stephanie Jamison, global resources industry practice lead and global sustainability services lead at Accenture. “AI can help but can only go so far when only
Accenture modeled the expected incremental use of AI-focused hardware in data centers around the world and forecast that AI-related emissions will rise more than 10-fold, from 68 to 718 million tons CO2e by 2030, in the absence of major innovation in energy systems, computing technology and algorithms. However, most leaders are optimistic about AI's potential in decarbonization. When asked about their expectations of how AI will affect emissions globally, more leaders expect it to reduce emissions (
In a sign of positive change that businesses are starting to rewire for net zero and focus on operationalizing their decarbonization strategies, many of the levers companies can pull to decarbonize their operations and value chains have started to become standard business practice: five key levers—energy efficiency, waste reduction, renewables adoption, circular principles and decarbonization of buildings—are each adopted by at least
Regionally, that percentage increases to nearly half (
“The recent Draghi report highlights the need for
Accenture continues to place an ever-greater emphasis on creating financial value and sustainability impact for clients by expanding capabilities and investing in expertise across sustainability strategy, supply-chain transformations, green IT and data-driven management of decarbonization. Its Sustainability Services portfolio helps clients improve their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and carbon intelligence. This set of capabilities helps organizations control, improve, and create value and reduce impact by using carbon—and broader sustainability—data and intelligence in decision-making across the core business.
As an example, Accenture built a custom large language model for ESG reporting using Meta Llama 3.1. It helps sustainability teams prepare their data collection and reporting requirements at a time of increased regulation. The tool has more than 16,000 hours of GPU training on over 15,000 ESG reports and can improve productivity by upwards of
Explore “Destination Net Zero” in Accenture’s thought leadership app, Foresight, and get a personalized feed of our latest insights, data, case studies and more at https://www.accenture.com/foresight.
About the research
This analysis takes stock of global corporate emissions trajectories, net zero targets, decarbonization levers and transition plans. Our sample was based on the Accenture G2000: an Accenture-developed list of the top 2,000 public and private companies in the world by revenue. We worked with The SmartCube to collect data on the G2000 across a given set of criteria relating to decarbonization. This involved manual inspection of company public documentation (e.g. websites, annual reports, sustainability reports). The approach allowed us to build a proprietary database of the decarbonization targets and levers adopted by companies in the G2000.
Emissions data retrieved from: S&P Global Trucost 2024. We then analyzed emissions trends up to the latest available year to look for evidence of an acceleration in decarbonization and identify relationships with the target and lever data.
As part of Accenture’s regularly fielded pulse surveys of ~3,000 top corporate executives, we included questions to gather insights on the expected impact of AI on global and corporate carbon emissions. We also modeled the future energy consumption and emissions impact of AI use by using projected AI data center growth and regional carbon emissions data.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company that helps the world’s leading organizations build their digital core, optimize their operations, accelerate revenue growth and enhance services—creating tangible value at speed and scale. We are a talent- and innovation-led company with 774,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Technology is at the core of change today, and we are one of the world’s leaders in helping drive that change, with strong ecosystem relationships. We combine our strength in technology and leadership in cloud, data and AI with unmatched industry experience, functional expertise and global delivery capability. Our broad range of services, solutions and assets across Strategy & Consulting, Technology, Operations, Industry X and Song, together with our culture of shared success and commitment to creating 360° value, enable us to help our clients reinvent and build trusted, lasting relationships. We measure our success by the 360° value we create for our clients, each other, our shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
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Alexander Aizenberg
Accenture
+1 917 452 9878
alexander.aizenberg@accenture.com
Source: Accenture
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