Businesses in Asia Pacific are largely confident that their decarbonisation efforts are on track, with some 85% of executives saying that their organisation’s net zero targets are ‘achievable’, a new study by Kearney has found.
According to the report, Regenerate: an Asia Pacific study on sustainability and beyond, reaching net zero is a ‘major goal’ for most businesses in the APAC region, with three quarters of executives confident of attaining net zero in scope 1 and scope 2 by the end of the decade, and 64% aiming to achieve the same at scope 3 level.
This approach varies from country to country – 92% of Indonesian businesses and 91% of India businesses have set net zero targets, compared to just under two-thirds (65%) in Japan. In addition, more than a fifth of organisations are ‘unaware’ about their net zero targets, indicating that more needs to be done to raise sustainability awareness in some organisations.
In terms of whether they consider their net zero targets to be achievable, respondents in Thailand and India are the most optimistic, with 56% and 51% respectively saying their targets are ‘highly achievable’.
At the other end of the spectrum, just 29% of respondents in Singapore, 28% in Malaysia and 20% in Japan believe their net zero targets to be highly achievable.
Paris Agreement
‘Despite the significant proportion of businesses that are setting decarbonisation targets, less than a third have plans that are acutely aligned with the Paris Agreement,’ Kearney said in its report, adding that more than half the world’s CO2 emissions occur in the APAC region.
‘This demonstrates that corporate ambitions are not progressing quickly enough to align with global net zero targets and goals to limit global warming’s rise to 1.5°C, raising concerns about the disconnect between ambitions and action. Adjusting strategies toward more robust and impactful decarbonisation initiatives that are in line with global net zero ambitions will be vital for the region to achieve the deeper carbon emission cuts required to accelerate progress to 1.5°C and mitigate the impacts of climate change.’
Greenwashing concerns
The study of 1,000 executives also revealed that a significant number are worried about greenwashing, with 83% of industry leaders sharing these concerns.
Malaysia and the Philippines ranked the highest (92 percent) in terms of leadership expressing concerns about greenwashing, with leaders in the energy and utilities sector particularly attuned to these issues.
However, amidst these concerns, there are positive outcomes: 86% of those concerned about greenwashing reported that it has driven their organisation to invest more in sustainability resources and capabilities. Additionally, 90% stated that it has made them more mindful of supplier and partner arrangements, while 88% mentioned that it has led their organisation to tighten sustainability policies and processes.
You can read the full report here.
