{"id":341254,"date":"2024-09-01T09:12:33","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T07:12:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341254"},"modified":"2024-09-01T09:12:36","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T07:12:36","slug":"how-it-ends-96-of-big-corporations-are-quietly-abandoning-their-climate-commitments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=341254","title":{"rendered":"How it ends: 96% of Big Corporations are quietly abandoning their climate commitments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From JoNova <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Jo Nova<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And then the climate pledges evaporated<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Tech-Giants are backing away. Microsoft and Google have given up \u2014 they\u2019re not bragging about their carbon neutrality anymore. Not now that their emissions have increased 29% and 50% respectively in the last four or five years.  Over 500 companies pledged to get to net zero by 2040, but 96% of them are failing to stay on track. To distract us from talking about how the Climate Bubble has popped, some are blaming \u201cAI\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world is facing mass death and boiling oceans, and wind and solar are still as cheap as they never were, but Big Tech are sneaking away from saving the world, wait, because Artificial Intelligence uses a lot of electricity? It\u2019s like, these CEOs were saviors of Mother Earth not long ago, but the ice-caps be damned, there\u2019s a race on to capture the AI market?  Apparently, the planetary heroes just turned back into robber barons doing business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Jemma Green, who sells software for renewables markets, is trying to sell us a bad-luck story, as if it makes any sense. The truth is that if net zero technologies were cheap and useful, and the CEO\u2019s ever cared about the planet, they wouldn\u2019t be abandoning them. But they are\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Big Corporations Are Quietly Abandoning Their Climate Commitments?<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Jemma Green, Forbes<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI\u2019s energy hunger and corporate climate hypocrisy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Shell once positioned themselves as leaders in sustainability, setting ambitious net-zero goals to align with global environmental efforts. However, the rapid rise of energy-hungry artificial intelligence is forcing these companies to reconsider\u2014or even abandon\u2014these commitments\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corporate climate pledges surged recently, with over 500 companies globally committing to net-zero emissions by 2040. This momentum continued between June 2022 and October 2023, with a 40% increase <\/a>in new net-zero targets\u200b. Yet, as the AI revolution gains traction, cracks in these promises are beginning to show. Recent analysis reveals that only 4% of these companies<\/a> are on track to meet their goals, highlighting a disconnect between corporate rhetoric and reality\u200b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the headline, Jemma Green isn\u2019t even trying to explain \u201cWhy\u201d the end is here. After a few paragraphs blaming AI she laments how other giants like Shell, or Gucci, or EasyJet are stepping away too from their goals too,  poking a hole in her thesis that it was only due to AI. It\u2019s not like Gucci want to sell you AI programs to wear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What she\u2019s documenting is the corporate world quietly erasing their mistakes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shell, for instance, has abandoned its 2035 target<\/a> of a 45% reduction in net carbon intensity, citing \u201cuncertainty in the pace of change in the energy transition.\u201d This target was a key milestone towards Shell\u2019s broader goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same goes for luxury fashion house Gucci, which once committed to carbon neutrality through verified carbon offsets and in May 2023, quietly removed its claim<\/a> of being \u201centirely carbon neutral\u201d from its website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is that if the Earth was in danger, smart CEO\u2019s and billionaires, who have to live on the planet too, would be pushing nuclear power like their children\u2019s lives depended on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead it was all an intellectual fashion contest and a quick subsidy buck, and maybe a few even believed wind and solar power did something useful, but they don\u2019t anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

he Tech-Giants are backing away. Microsoft and Google have given up \u2014 they\u2019re not bragging about their carbon neutrality anymore. Not now that their emissions have increased 29% and 50% respectively in the last four or five years.\u00a0 Over 500 companies pledged to get to net zero by 2040, but 96% of them are failing to stay on track. To distract us from talking about how the Climate Bubble has popped, some are blaming \u201cAI\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":341258,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691818055,691830431,691830433,691818618,691818154,691830432],"class_list":{"0":"post-341254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-big-corporations","10":"tag-carbon-neutrality","11":"tag-energy-transition","12":"tag-net-zero","13":"tag-tech-giants","15":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/OIG-14.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1qM6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":427145,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=427145","url_meta":{"origin":341254,"position":0},"title":"FOE Accuses Big Tech of Lying about the Climate Benefits of AI","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"20\/02\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"But who is the real target audience of big tech climate propaganda?","rel":"","context":"In \"Amazon employees\"","block_context":{"text":"Amazon employees","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=amazon-employees"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMaFxRVj9PQTSqDLSm-ObDnXtAzc0aUWa7iHV51fFwdYQF8jBzcTLOVIA0SrsLO9RGCrIoUYONKF7AK0IG05lmv7ReGEKpZsFukCdVMURjoFB-n-wyJoITKaFHEMit1kz00unOSxluHzYdDj9pD_otIFEcyUQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMaFxRVj9PQTSqDLSm-ObDnXtAzc0aUWa7iHV51fFwdYQF8jBzcTLOVIA0SrsLO9RGCrIoUYONKF7AK0IG05lmv7ReGEKpZsFukCdVMURjoFB-n-wyJoITKaFHEMit1kz00unOSxluHzYdDj9pD_otIFEcyUQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMaFxRVj9PQTSqDLSm-ObDnXtAzc0aUWa7iHV51fFwdYQF8jBzcTLOVIA0SrsLO9RGCrIoUYONKF7AK0IG05lmv7ReGEKpZsFukCdVMURjoFB-n-wyJoITKaFHEMit1kz00unOSxluHzYdDj9pD_otIFEcyUQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMaFxRVj9PQTSqDLSm-ObDnXtAzc0aUWa7iHV51fFwdYQF8jBzcTLOVIA0SrsLO9RGCrIoUYONKF7AK0IG05lmv7ReGEKpZsFukCdVMURjoFB-n-wyJoITKaFHEMit1kz00unOSxluHzYdDj9pD_otIFEcyUQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQMaFxRVj9PQTSqDLSm-ObDnXtAzc0aUWa7iHV51fFwdYQF8jBzcTLOVIA0SrsLO9RGCrIoUYONKF7AK0IG05lmv7ReGEKpZsFukCdVMURjoFB-n-wyJoITKaFHEMit1kz00unOSxluHzYdDj9pD_otIFEcyUQ.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":419163,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=419163","url_meta":{"origin":341254,"position":1},"title":"Energy Transition Meltdown Could Mean Global Bifurcation","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"30\/12\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"History will likely remember 2025 as the year energy corporatists finally stopped pretending there is a climate crisis. For a decade, a bizarre theater of the absurd played out as titans of the oil and gas industry apologized for their core business while pledging allegiance to a \u201cgreen transition\u201d that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"\u201cgreen transition\u201d\"","block_context":{"text":"\u201cgreen transition\u201d","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=green-transition-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQM6uASCh6sY3Vl9GzRbxNJlfaVQdKi6F0AOxT5JUJC9Wb9nnTCSXqIU5Nl8EQA54rBFdiIeCYANxSVRWaH9wQTJAraNw8QMEoNs4rvyI7t6Xnx7N5dkEtxdBydYQ7WY-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQM6uASCh6sY3Vl9GzRbxNJlfaVQdKi6F0AOxT5JUJC9Wb9nnTCSXqIU5Nl8EQA54rBFdiIeCYANxSVRWaH9wQTJAraNw8QMEoNs4rvyI7t6Xnx7N5dkEtxdBydYQ7WY-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQM6uASCh6sY3Vl9GzRbxNJlfaVQdKi6F0AOxT5JUJC9Wb9nnTCSXqIU5Nl8EQA54rBFdiIeCYANxSVRWaH9wQTJAraNw8QMEoNs4rvyI7t6Xnx7N5dkEtxdBydYQ7WY-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQM6uASCh6sY3Vl9GzRbxNJlfaVQdKi6F0AOxT5JUJC9Wb9nnTCSXqIU5Nl8EQA54rBFdiIeCYANxSVRWaH9wQTJAraNw8QMEoNs4rvyI7t6Xnx7N5dkEtxdBydYQ7WY-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AQM6uASCh6sY3Vl9GzRbxNJlfaVQdKi6F0AOxT5JUJC9Wb9nnTCSXqIU5Nl8EQA54rBFdiIeCYANxSVRWaH9wQTJAraNw8QMEoNs4rvyI7t6Xnx7N5dkEtxdBydYQ7WY-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C731&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":262885,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=262885","url_meta":{"origin":341254,"position":2},"title":"Bud Light Digs Deeper with \u2018climate neutral\u2019 Beer","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"19\/06\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"ON THE WAY TO A NET ZERO FUTURE, BUD LIGHT NEXT WILL RECOGNIZE CLIMATE NEUTRAL MILESTONE BY PURCHASING ALL ELECTRICITY AT THIS YEAR\u2019S LEAGUE OF LEGENDS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES IN HOUSTON FROM CLEAN, RENEWABLE SOURCES","rel":"","context":"In \"Bud Light\"","block_context":{"text":"Bud Light","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bud-light"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/00Screenshot-2023-06-19-171949.png?fit=1010%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/00Screenshot-2023-06-19-171949.png?fit=1010%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/00Screenshot-2023-06-19-171949.png?fit=1010%2C551&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/00Screenshot-2023-06-19-171949.png?fit=1010%2C551&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":370176,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=370176","url_meta":{"origin":341254,"position":3},"title":"Tech Giants quietly drop renewables and sign pledge to triple Nuclear Power","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"15\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After twenty years of hailing wind and solar, suddenly the\u00a0world\u2019s tech giants are cheering for nuclear power.\u00a0Worse \u2014\u00a0 they don\u2019t even mention the words carbon, low emissions or CO2. The new buzzwords are \u201csafe, clean and\u00a0firm\u201c. They talk about needing energy \u201cround the clock\u201d, and they talk about \u201cenergy resilience\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Cheap energy\"","block_context":{"text":"Cheap energy","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=cheap-energy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0xKQSL9b9tU2XoIkEs3sIsmCytK104BbmonUvAuXb.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0xKQSL9b9tU2XoIkEs3sIsmCytK104BbmonUvAuXb.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0xKQSL9b9tU2XoIkEs3sIsmCytK104BbmonUvAuXb.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0xKQSL9b9tU2XoIkEs3sIsmCytK104BbmonUvAuXb.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0xKQSL9b9tU2XoIkEs3sIsmCytK104BbmonUvAuXb.webp?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":294195,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=294195","url_meta":{"origin":341254,"position":4},"title":"Councils make \u2018undemocratic\u2019 pledges in dash to reach net zero","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/01\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"At least 160 local authorities have made commitments to beat Government's 2050 target but face accusations of not consulting voters","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate action\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate action","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-action"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Blog1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Blog1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Blog1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Blog1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/0Blog1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":439873,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=439873","url_meta":{"origin":341254,"position":5},"title":"The Collision: Climate Guilt Collides with AI’s Insatiable Power Appetite","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/04\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The \"climate guilt\" narrative, which has long emphasized reducing energy use, curbing consumption, and prioritizing rapid decarbonization through intermittent renewables, is slamming into the physics of the AI era: massive, always-on computational demand that doesn't tolerate blackouts, brownouts, or weather-dependent supply.","rel":"","context":"In \"AI (artificial intelligence)\"","block_context":{"text":"AI (artificial intelligence)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=ai-artificial-intelligence-2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Collision-Climate-Guilt-Collides-with-AIs-Insatiable-Power-Appetite.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Collision-Climate-Guilt-Collides-with-AIs-Insatiable-Power-Appetite.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Collision-Climate-Guilt-Collides-with-AIs-Insatiable-Power-Appetite.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Collision-Climate-Guilt-Collides-with-AIs-Insatiable-Power-Appetite.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0-The-Collision-Climate-Guilt-Collides-with-AIs-Insatiable-Power-Appetite.jpg?fit=1168%2C784&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=341254"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":341259,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341254\/revisions\/341259"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/341258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=341254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=341254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=341254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}