Corporate climate pledges are everywhere. Net zero by 2030, carbon neutrality by 2040, “sustainable growth” slogans splashed across annual reports. Yet scratch the surface, and much of it starts to look like smoke and mirrors. The uncomfortable truth? Business is running out of time to get serious, and glossy PR campaigns won’t cut it.
A recent conversation I had with Tom Day of the NewClimate Institute on my Climate Confident podcast, alongside the Institute’s Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025, makes that point abundantly clear. Both paint a picture of grand promises colliding with messy execution, questionable accounting, and a worrying lack of sincerity. And while tech giants like Google and Microsoft have made commendable progress on renewable energy procurement, the same sector is also helping fossil fuel companies pump hydrocarbons more efficiently with AI and enterprise software. That’s climate leadership with one hand, and climate sabotage with the other.
The credibility gap
The NewClimate Institute assessed 55 major companies across tech, automotive, food, and fashion. Not a single one achieved a rating of “high integrity.” Apple, H&M, and Stellantis managed “moderate,” but most landed in “low” or “very low.” The common weaknesses?
- Over-reliance on offsets to meet net zero targets.
- Incomplete disclosure of value chain emissions.
- Creative accounting that allows companies to hit headline goals while real-world emissions continue to rise.
Offsets, as Tom Day argued on the podcast, are less a solution than a distraction. High-quality or not, they delay the deep decarbonisation that must occur within companies’ own operations and supply chains. The demand-side problem is stark: corporations use credits as a crutch instead of pursuing the hard, structural changes their sectors require.
Tech’s double-edged sword
Let’s be clear: the tech sector has the tools, talent, and capital to be a force for good in the energy transition. Companies like Google and Microsoft have led the push for 24/7 renewable electricity matching, a more ambitious standard than the current annual certificate system, and one that could reshape how corporate procurement supports grid decarbonisation.
But tech is also a culprit. Companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, and Salesforce actively sell software that helps oil and gas majors optimise drilling, exploration, and production. That’s not neutrality – it’s complicity. It’s like a firefighter boasting about how many fires they’ve put out, while running a thriving business selling matches and petrol.
On energy use, fears that AI will “break the grid” have been over-hyped. As I wrote in AI’s Energy Myth: Why Data Centres Aren’t About to Break the Grid, the numbers don’t support the apocalypse narrative. Data centre demand has jumped, but manageable grid planning and renewable expansion can accommodate it. The real issue isn’t sheer consumption, it’s where the electricity comes from, and whether companies are pushing grids to decarbonise locally and hourly, rather than relying on paper certificates from afar.
Beyond numbers: questioning business models
The obsession with one big number, tonnes of CO₂ reported in ESG filings, has driven companies into a corner. Creative accounting flourishes; glossy reports conceal reality. What matters more is transparency on transitions:
- Are your data centres on 24/7 clean power?
- Is your supply chain moving to deforestation-free sourcing?
- Are your products designed for longer lifespans and circular reuse?
- Who are your customers – and are you enabling industries that actively undermine the climate transition?
That last question is the elephant in the room. Financial institutions are now being told not to fund fossil fuel expansion. Should tech companies be any less accountable for selling the software that makes fossil extraction more efficient?
The path forward
The Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025 argues for “transition-specific alignment targets” instead of vague 2030 net zero promises. These are tangible, sectoral milestones that can’t be fudged:
- EV sales shares for automakers.
- Deforestation-free supply chains for food and fashion.
- 24/7 clean energy commitments for tech.
- Circularity and product lifespan metrics across manufacturing.
The regulatory window is open. The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the Science-Based Targets initiative, and ISO standards are all under revision for 2026–27. These frameworks can, and must, close the loopholes that allow creative accounting to masquerade as climate progress.
Why sincerity matters
This isn’t just moral posturing. It’s a business imperative. Customers, employees, investors, and regulators are converging on the same demand: real decarbonisation, not theatre. Look at what happened in Spain during the April 2025 blackout — households like mine could keep the lights on with EV-to-home backup power. I wrote about it here. That’s resilience in practice. That’s the kind of transparency and substance people now expect from businesses too.
Greenwashing isn’t just reputational risk anymore, it’s legal risk. As of mid-2025, there are over 3,000 active climate litigation cases worldwide. The International Court of Justice has just ruled that states have a legal obligation to prevent climate harm. Corporate leaders who think this won’t touch them are dangerously naive.
Conclusion
Corporates can play a decisive role in bending the emissions curve. But only if they move past offsets and creative accounting, stop enabling fossil fuel expansion, and embrace transparent, transition-specific targets. This is about more than hitting a PR-friendly number in 2030. It’s about aligning business models with a livable future.
The next few years are a crossroads. Standards are shifting. Regulations are tightening. Investors are watching. The question is whether corporate leaders will keep playing the PR game, or step up with sincerity, transparency, and the courage to question how they make money in the first place.
If you’d like to dig deeper, I highly recommend listening to my conversation with Tom Day on the Climate Confident podcast: Big Tech Emissions and the Truth About Corporate Climate Pledges.
And download the full Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025 from the NewClimate Institute — it’s free, no registration required: newclimate.org/resources/publications/corporate-climate-responsibility-monitor-2025.
Because sustainability isn’t a PR exercise. It’s a survival strategy.