ExxonMobil announced a brand new “ambition” to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, becoming the last of the world’s oil giants to offer some commitment to the idea of a carbon-neutral future.

But the oil giant’s net-zero target is meaningless without tackling Scope 3 emissions, which make up 80% of the supply chain.

In his carefully watched annual letter, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the potential for start-ups and investors in climate technology is unprecedented. The next 1000 billion-dollar start-ups will be those “that help the world decarbonize and make the energy transition affordable for all consumers,” he wrote.

As the U.S. securities regulator wraps up a draft of a landmark new climate change rule, environmental campaigners and activist investors want it to require companies to disclose not only their own greenhouse gas emissions but those generated by their suppliers and other partners.

Global efforts to reduce wasted energy have faced a major setback in 2020, sidelining a relatively simple way of slashing emissions and hitting climate goals. Improving the way the world heats and cools its buildings as well as powers its cars over the next 20 years would see a drop of about half the energy-related pollution needed to ensure the countries hit climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement, the IEA said.

USS Investment Management has introduced a climate “tilt” to the portfolio of companies that it has invested in, rewarding organisations that can demonstrate ambitious levels of decarbonisation and those in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Etihad Airways has launched a new corporate rewards programme focusing on sustainability to support and deliver sustainability objectives for corporate partners through carbon offsetting, SAF investments, and green surcharge pricing.

Targets are easy to announce, pledges are a dime-a-dozen, and effective action is difficult to assess. The SBTi’s data is sorting the talk from the action.