Eighty-two percent of UK FTSE 100 companies have now committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, with the average company due to reach that goal by 2044 if plans are fulfilled. The research, conducted by London-based private wealth firm Boodle Hatfield, noted that the number of FTSE 100 firms signed up to achieve net zero by 2050 has increased to 82 from the 60 which signed up at last November’s COP26. Seventy-one companies currently report their full emissions, with these companies responsible for an estimated combined 3 billion tonnes of CO2, averaging out at 41 million tonnes per company. FTSE 100 companies’ average pledge to reach net zero is 2044, six years ahead of the UK government’s 2050 goal. Just over half of FTSE 100 companies disclose Scope 1 emissions, with the average year they aim to achieve net zero being 2032; the 29 companies reporting Scope 2 emissions aim to achieve net zero by 2031. Katherine Worrall, Boodle Hatfield Associate, said: “It used to be a ‘nice to have’, now a low carbon footprint is moving towards a ‘must have’. Smaller companies may want to look at what the FTSE 100 companies are doing in this area and decide whether they want to benchmark themselves against their bigger peers.”
