S&P 500: stated climate goals

223 out of 435 companies of S&P 500 actually managed to cut emissions during the last reporting period of FY2021 (the rate of decline is shown on the axis X on the chart below).

163 companies currently have valid climate goals targeting absolute reductions in Scope 1 + 2 greenhouse gas emissions (including 39 companies that have science-based climate goals and are aligned with the Paris Agreement's ambition to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels). These public commitments provide quantitative estimates for the future rate of emisison cuts (shown on axis Y), and they currently indicate that only 35 companies are on track to achieve a 7.6% decline in emissions in FY2021.

One company in S&P 500 has achieved Net Zero (Meta Platforms Inc), and 2 more claim to be carbon neutral (Mettler-Toledo Intl, Fifth Third Bancorp). Carbon neutrality is different from Net Zero as it covers only carbon CO2 emissions. More importantly, corporates can achieve carbon neutrality with the help of the acquisition of carbon offsets, while Net Zero usually requires that the company reduces its own emissions in absolute terms.