Companies’ efforts to combat CO2 emissions are weakening, reports financial analysis agency MSCI. The American organization concludes that, at the current state of affairs, large listed companies will emit too much in 2026 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
MSCI analyzed almost 4,500 listed companies from sixteen countries with a large economy, of which the Netherlands was not among them. Their direct emissions are increasing, according to the analysis agency. The data supplier, known for stock market indicators and other information for investors, estimates emissions will be 11 percent higher this year than last year.
Greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced. The Paris climate agreement stipulates that global temperatures may rise by 1.5 degrees but no more than 2 degrees.
Companies in nine economic powers are expected to reduce their emissions less in the next seven years than in previous years. Linda-Eling Lee, head of the MSCI, reports that companies have now picked the “low-hanging fruit”. “That is why we must focus on policy innovation and technological advances to reduce the costs of low-carbon energy.”