Dishonest financial practices and ambiguous revelations in corporate environmental efforts have sparked discussions about tightening regulation in business sustainability.
In the recently released Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM) 2025 report, major corporations in the technology, fashion, automotive, and agrifood sectors have been criticised for insufficient progress towards meeting the 2030 global climate goals aligned with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.
The report highlights uneven progress, with some companies demonstrating better transparency and partial progress, but overall corporate climate commitments largely falling short of the scale and speed required.
Technology Sector
Companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft have been criticised for outdated and inadequate climate strategies. Despite Google and Microsoft signing the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact to improve renewable electricity accounting, overall progress in aligning business models with the necessary climate goals is limited.
Fashion Sector
Firms such as Adidas, H&M Group, and Inditex show some progress, especially with transparency efforts like disclosing material volumes and supply chain energy use. However, none reach “reasonable” or “high” integrity due to missing critical measures like manufacturing electrification. Companies like Shein perform poorly, lacking meaningful targets or disclosures.
Agrifood Sector
Danone stands out for its methane reduction targets and shift towards plant-based proteins, plus credible food loss and waste targets. Other agrifood firms lack such ambition or clear plans on key transitions essential for deep emission cuts.
Automotive Sector
Many car manufacturers, including Toyota, have targets not aligned with 1.5°C pathways and lack commitments to phase out internal combustion engines. Toyota’s emissions increased sharply from 2021 to 2023, highlighting insufficient progress.
Overall Challenges
The CCRM highlights misleading accounting practices, irregular disclosures, and widespread usage of false climate solutions like carbon credits or biomass substitution. This hinders clarity on actual emission reductions and company progress. Unlike previous years, the report could not update its estimate on median emission cuts due to these transparency and methodological issues.
The general corporate emission reduction trajectory remains insufficient to meet near halving of emissions by 2030 demanded by the Paris goals.
The report calls for stronger regulatory oversight and higher transparency to ensure genuine corporate climate responsibility. The top performing companies this year were all headquartered in the European Union (EU), where large companies are required to disclose their environmental and social impacts.
Regulators are encouraged to create an environment where corporate climate action is a business necessity rather than a voluntary side job. The CCRM 2025 evaluated 20 global brands on their emissions tracking, carbon reduction targets, sectoral transition targets, and efforts to tackle ongoing emissions and scale up durable carbon emission removals.
[1] CCRM 2025 report: [link to the report] [2] Additional sources on specific company progress: [links to sources] [3] Further reading on the fashion sector: [link to further reading] [4] Details on the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact: [link to the compact]
- The CCRM 2025 report findings indicate that major corporations in the technology, fashion, automotive, and agrifood sectors are lagging behind in their progress towards meeting the 2030 global climate goals, which align with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target.
- Some technology companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft have been criticised for outdated and insufficient climate strategies, despite Google and Microsoft's participation in the 24/7 Carbon-free Energy Compact.
- The fashion sector companies such as Adidas, H&M Group, and Inditex are making some progress, particularly in transparency efforts, but they still lack critical measures like manufacturing electrification.
- Companies like Shein in the fashion sector are performing poorly, as they lack meaningful targets or disclosures.
- In the agrifood sector, while Danone stands out for its methane reduction targets and shift towards plant-based proteins, other firms lack ambition or clear plans for key transitions essential for deep emission cuts.
- Many automotive manufacturers, including Toyota, have targets not aligned with 1.5°C pathways and insufficient commitments to phase out internal combustion engines, as evident from Toyota’s increased emissions from 2021 to 2023.
- The report underscores the need for stronger regulatory oversight and improved transparency to mitigate misleading accounting practices, irregular disclosures, and the widespread use of false climate solutions like carbon credits or biomass substitution, hindering clarity on actual emission reductions and company progress.
