Corporate net-zero: targets do not add up due to scope 2 and 3 emissions

Frameworks for setting so-called science-based corporate net-zero targets requirecompanies to counterbalance residual emissions across scopes 1−3 with durable carbondioxide removal (CDR) in the net-zero target year, no later than 2050, and beyond. Wefind that if all companies worldwide were to adopt and achieve such targets, the levelof CDR by 2050 would be several times higher than the remaining global emissions -which would be unrealistic and unsustainable. This outcome is due to significantdouble counting in corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories and is not alignedwith the frameworks’ foundational science-based net emission pathways. We alsopresent a case study of 303 EU companies with Science-Based Target Initiative net-zero committments, combined with an analysis of the EU Parliament’s Green ClaimsDirective proposal. The case study shows that these companies alone could create ademand for about 365 MtCO2 of EU-sourced durable CDR by 2050 - an amountcomparable to the total CDR (durable and non-durable) required for the EU to achievenet-zero. This has policy implications for perceived fairness, since current frameworksimpose a disproportionate burden to generate CDR on net-zero-committed companies.We recommend revising net-zero frameworks to account for the implications of doublecounting in corporate GHG inventories.