Key reasons to read this article
- Discover which corporations are backtracking on their climate commitments.
- Find out which companies are still quietly delivering despite political and economic pressure.
- Unpack the integrity gap between net-zero pledges and what corporate climate data really shows.
- Understand what is driving the retreat from climate action.
- See what this means for the 1.5°C warming target.
A quiet crisis is unfolding within the world’s largest companies, one that could determine whether the world still can achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals to cut emissions by 50% by 2030 and ensure net-zero by 2050.
Accepting the challenge, by mid‑2025, about 10,949 companies worldwide had formally adopted either near‑term or net-zero climate targets under the Science-Based Targets initiative, up from 4,200 in 2023. However, behind the surge in commitments lies a more complicated reality. Some of the world’s largest companies are retrenching on their commitments, allegedly under political and economic pressure.
As 2025 draws to a close, the question has shifted. It is no longer who has a net-zero target but who is abandoning climate action and who is quietly keeping their word.
The retreat: sectors pulling back from climate goals
Energy: oil giants abandon the transition
Oil and gas companies drove the most visible retreat in 2025. After a decade of promising a transition to clean energy, the sector has pivoted sharply back to fossil fuels, cut clean-energy investment, and raised production targets.
- UK’s BP scrapped its pledge to cut output by 40% by 2030 and is now increasing production to 2.5 million barrels per day while halving investment in renewables.
- UK’s Shell expects fossil fuel output to rise by 1% annually through 2030, with LNG expansion pushing capacity nearly 40% above the International Energy Agency net-zero pathway.
- France-based TotalEnergies cut clean-energy spending from US$5 billion to US$4.5 billion in 2025.
- Norwegian Equinor lowered its 2030 renewables goal from 16 GW to 10-12 GW and dropped its 50% low-carbon capital pledge.
- Italian Eni plans a 2-3% annual fossil-fuel output growth through 2030, channeling only 15% of its capital budget to low-carbon projects.
- American Chevron projects 2-3% production growth per year through 2030.
The message from the sector is clear: Paris-aligned trajectories are being abandoned in favor of short-term production growth.
Finance: The collapse of net-zero alliances
The most dramatic shift occurred in the finance sector.
All six of the largest U.S. banks, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, withdrew from the UN-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance earlier this year, leading to the complete collapse of the initiative. HSBC, Barclays, and Royal Bank of Canada then followed suit.
In asset management, BlackRock’s exit from the Net-Zero Asset Managers Initiative forced the group to suspend its tracking activities. Vanguard, Northern Trust, and State Street also departed.
Wells Fargo went further, abandoning its 2030 and 2050 climate targets lending portfolio goal, saying it would “meet clients where they are” on energy transition.
Analysts comment that the exodus has been largely driven by intensified Republican attacks on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment in the U.S.
Consumer goods: Packaging promises deferred
Major consumer brands have struggled with previously ambitious targets.
- Coca-Cola abandoned its 2025 goal to cut virgin plastic use by 3 million tons, pushing its recycled-content targets to 2035.
- PepsiCo cancelled its 2030 reusable packaging target and scaled back virgin plastic reduction to just 2% annually.
- JBS, the Brazilian meatpacking giant, recast its 2040 net-zero pledge as “never a promise,” citing supply-chain and deforestation constraints.
- Colgate-Palmolive flagged likely failure to meet 2025 post-consumer recycled packaging targets.
- Unilever revised its goal to halve virgin plastic use by 2025 to a 30% reduction by 2026.
- Nestlé revised its original pledge to use only recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025, shifting to a commitment that most of its plastic will be “designed for recycling”.
Technology: AI growth overwhelms climate gains
Big tech giants Apple, Google, and Meta aim to stop adding CO₂ to the atmosphere by 2030, while Amazon has set its target for 2040.
However, a June 2025 report by Carbon Market Watch and NewClimate Institute rated the climate strategies of Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon as “poor” and gave Google’s parent company, Alphabet, a “poor” score for its emissions-reduction targets.
The report noted that rapid AI growth is driving a surge in energy use, making existing net-zero commitments harder to achieve.
The silent majority: still delivering, just quietly
While the headlines focus on high-profile withdrawals, the bigger story is that most companies are quietly intensifying their climate efforts.
Data from 2025 highlights this resilience. According to a global ESG‑tracking analysis,14.2% of listed companies globally now have SBTi-validated climate targets, up from 9.3% in 2024, and nearly 30% have publicly declared net-zero ambitions, a sixfold increase since 2020.
A 2025 PwC analysis of over 4,000 CDP‑reporting firms shows:
- 84% maintained or increased their emissions‑reduction commitments
- 37% raised ambition
- Only 16% scaled back
- About 67% of companies report being on track on operational commitments
- Around 54% are currently progressing on reductions in supply chain emissions
Finance: U.S. steps back, Europe pushes forward
While U.S. banks exited alliances, European institutions accelerated.
- Internationale Nederlanden Groep Bank (ING) mobilised €68 billion in sustainable finance in the first half of 2025, up 19% year-on-year.
- France BNP Paribas financed €36.8 billion for low-carbon energy in 2024, up from €32 billion in 2023.
Observers comment that Europe’s stricter disclosure rules and less politicized climate debate have played a key role.
Automotive
BMW announced a target of 60-million-ton CO₂ reduction by 2035 across full vehicle lifecycles in December.
Retail
Swedish H&M Group is committed to 100% renewable electricity across its supplier base by 2030. In 2024, H&M sourced 96% of the electricity for its own operations from renewable sources.
Technology
While Big Tech’s AI emissions surge, some players are maintaining progress.
Apple has added 650 MW of renewable capacity in Europe and has reduced global emissions 60% since 2015, though AI growth threatens the gains.
Samsung’s DX division achieved 93.4% renewable energy transition, with global consumption exceeding 10,000 GWh.
Pharmaceuticals and healthcare
Johnson & Johnson is pursuing 100% renewable electricity in operations and supply chains by 2025.
The integrity gap
Even with signs of quiet progress, the broader picture remains sobering. According to a 2025 analysis by NewClimate Institute and Carbon Market Watch, none of the 55 major global companies reviewed demonstrate “high or reasonable integrity” climate strategies.
Only a few, including companies such as the H&M Group, Stellantis, and Apple, achieved “moderate” integrity ratings, due mostly to early progress on partial commitments.
The report warns that even if all the current targets are met, emissions reductions would still fall short of the 1.5 °C pathway.
The problem, it argues, is not just backtracking, but the fragility and limited scope of many pledges from the outset.
