[Assessment Tool] Net Zero Company Benchmark and Alignment Assessments

“The Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark was launched in March 2021 to assess the performance of focus companies against the initiative’s three high-level goals: emissions reduction, governance, and disclosure. The Benchmark assesses the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters on their net zero transition. It is not a disclosure mechanism or database itself. Rather, it is an evaluation tool for investor engagement that can be used by investors, all of whom will have differing mandates and starting points together with considerations of jurisdiction, regulation and best practice, from which they make their own decisions.

Released in 2023, the Benchmark 2.0 framework draws on distinct analytical methodologies and datasets (from public and self-disclosed data from companies) categorised into two types of indicators: Disclosure Framework Indicators, which evaluate the adequacy of corporate disclosure; and Alignment Assessments, which evaluate the alignment of company actions with the Paris Agreement goals. The updates made intend to inspire greater company ambition and provide more comprehensive analysis to inform investor engagement.

Alignment Assessments complement the Disclosure Framework Indicators by providing independent evaluations of the alignment of company actions with the goals of Climate Action 100+ and the Paris Agreement.

These assessments are conducted by the Carbon Tracker Initiative (CTI), the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI; formerly 2 Degrees Investing Initiative, 2DII) and InfluenceMap. They can be divided into assessments applying to focus companies across industries and assessments applying to specific sectors.”

Citation: Climate Action 100+. Net Zero Company Benchmark. N.p., 2021, 2023.