More than 150 companies have committed to set emissions reduction targets in line with the global effort to keep warming well below 2°C.
Compass, Sodexo and Unilever are among the firms that have committed to setting goals through the Science Based Targets Initiative.
The project, a partnership between CDP, UN Global Compact, WRI and WWF, helps companies determine how much they must cut emissions to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
“Our technical reviewers cannot keep up with the number of targets being submitted,” said WRI’s Cynthia Cummis. “This is a great problem to have and a clear indication that the Paris Agreement was a turning point for climate action.”
The Conservative’s election win in the UK a year ago also marked a turning point, but reportedly for the worse. Campaigners will this weekend march backwards in London to highlight a programme of policy-making that they say is undermining the transition to a low carbon economy.
The Conservative government has either scrapped or scaled back more than a dozen climate policies, including cuts in subsidies for solar and onshore wind and a watering down of energy efficiency initiatives.
“As the government blocks the cheapest forms of clean energy – onshore wind and solar, other countries are benefiting from new technologies,” said Claire James from the Campaign against Climate Change.
Other #GoingBackwards protests will take place in Bristol, Leicester, Leeds, Nottingham and Manchester.
