This post is based on the August 2024 edition of the David Gardiner and Associates (DGA) Corporate Climate Tracker, which is updated on an ongoing basis. Check back for exclusive, periodic updates. You can find the article introducing the tracker here.
Almost exactly half of Fortune 500 companies have committed to at least one major climate initiative, according to the latest update of David Gardiner and Associate’s Corporate Climate Tracker. While the number of companies making climate pledges continues to rise, in the last year DGA has observed only modest growth in the number of commitments: The number of companies participating in at least one of the nine initiatives included in our Tracker grew by under 4% between 2023 and 2024.
DGA’s Tracker uses publicly available data to quantify corporate participation in major climate-related initiatives, which range from the influential Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to programs like the RE100 and EV100 which focus specifically on renewable energy procurement and electric vehicles, respectively.
DGA’s Tracker uses the 2024 Fortune 500 list to track corporate participation across the following programs:
- Ceres’ Corporate Electric Vehicle Alliance, Ceres’ Policy Network, and Ceres’ Company Network
- The Climate Group’s RE100
- The Climate Group’s EV100
- The Clean Energy Buyers Association (CEBA)
- America is All In
- The CDP Supply Chain
- The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)
- The Climate Pledge
- The We Mean Business Coalition
Here are a few key takeaways from the updated Corporate Tracker:
- There are 248 Fortune 500 companies participating in at least one climate initiative, just over 50%. Of those companies, roughly a quarter (63) are in the Fortune 100.
- Over the past year, 37 companies committed to at least one more initiative.
Figure 1 shows the change in participation levels across nine climate initiatives.
| 2023 | 2024 | Change | |
| Ceres | 54 | 52 | -2 |
| RE100 | 56 | 58 | 2 |
| EV100 | 9 | 8 | -1 |
| CEBA | 72 | 69 | -3 |
| America Is All In | 56 | 61 | 5 |
| CDP Supply Chain | 26 | 21 | -5 |
| SBTi | 186 | 202 | 16 |
| Climate Pledge | 27 | 28 | 1 |
| We Mean Business Coalition*** | 204 | 4 | 21 |
| TOTAL | 239 | 251 | 14 |
Source: David Gardiner & Associates, Inc., August 2024 (***The We Mean Business Coalition is a collection of pledges, several of which are listed separately on this Tracker. To avoid redundancy, only the following pledges are counted as a “Yes” commitment to We Mean Business: EP100, SteelZero, ConcreteZero.
- Fifteen companies committed to at least one initiative for the first time between our 2023 and 2024 Tracker updates — compared to 49 that took up at least one initiative between our 2021 and 2023 editions. Though the time between updates was shorter this time around, the data still point to a slowing of corporate climate commitments. This finding is consistent with other datasets: for example, the latest annual report from Climate Impact Partners found that in 2023, 66% of Fortune Global 500 companies had public climate initiatives, a small rise from 63% in 2022.
- Some sectors made strides on climate action; the minerals and industrials sector increased its number of commitments by six; the retailing sector increased its commitments by five; the financials sector increased its commitments by four.
- By percentage, the sectors with the most participation in 2023 were Hotels, Restaurants, and Leisure (9 out of 10 companies, or 90%), Technology (72%), and Retailing (66%).
- By percentage, the sectors with the least amount of participation in 2023 were Energy (12 out of 61 companies, or 19.7%), Financials (32%), and Aerospace and Defense (37.5%).
Figure 2 shows change in participation in the nine climate initiatives across sectors.
- The Fortune 500 companies with the most commitments are HP (8), PepisCo, Best Buy, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, each committing to six initiatives.
- The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) marked a major milestone this past June when the number of companies with validated targets crossed 5,500, a 31% increase from 2023. The number Fortune 500 companies with approved SBTI targets grew only modestly by 8.6%. By comparison, DGA’s Tracker observed a nearly 50% increase participating Fortune 500 companies between 2020 and 2021.
With a total market cap of $43 trillion, these companies have a pivotal role in addressing climate change. Although half of the Fortune 500 companies have committed to at least one major climate initiative — a major milestone for DGA’s Tracker — these companies must further their commitments to climate action if the world is to meet the Paris Agreement targets.
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