Publication
Achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement relies on every actor maximising their effort to reduce emissions. Generic targets claiming a basis in science have been used to justify inequitable efforts that insufficiently stretch the ambition of the best-resourced countries and companies. Science-based targets are proliferating not only
Achieving the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement relies on every actor maximising their effort to reduce emissions. Generic targets claiming a basis in science have been used to justify inequitable efforts that insufficiently stretch the ambition of the best-resourced countries and companies.
Science-based targets are proliferating not only in the corporate world, but national targets also often claim to reflect what science says is needed to limit warming to 1.5 °C. Such claims often rely on condensing diverse and complex scientific findings into simple and easily communicated benchmarks for corporate or national action towards global goals, such as reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. Typically, they cite the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the authoritative scientific source. Assertions of a basis in science aim to assure stakeholders, shareholders and the public that the level of ambition expressed by such targets is not the result of political contestation and moral judgements but is derived from objective scientific methods.
Science-based targets miss the mark
Reisinger, A., Cowie, A.L., Geden, O. et al. Science-based targets miss the mark. Commun Earth Environ 5, 383 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01535-z