Empirical Assessment of Carbon Reduction and Energy Transition Targets of European Companies

Abstract

Abstract The paper presents an analysis of the carbon reduction and energy transition targets set by all companies included in the STOXX All Europe 100 index. This is an emerging topic, and the scientific literature is scarce. We employ a quantitative research method, as we extract by hand the targets from various sources: corporate annual reports, Refinitiv Database, Science Based Targets etc. The research question is: Which are the directions of corporate European strategies regarding carbon emissions and reduction targets? The total number of emissions reduction targets in the sample is 427, while renewable energy targets are 89, efficiency targets are 33, and electric vehicle adoption targets are 29. The analysis reveals that most of the targets are set for a short or medium time frame. Also, most of them are expressed in absolute terms and some of them have already been achieved. The research has implications for policy setting, as we show that the regulations should be an incentive for companies to strive to achieve meaningful targets. Thus, the results show that longer term targets are more difficult to track, and progress is less disclosed in the annual reports. The countries in which the sample companies are headquartered are not yet on track to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, which means that environmental and disclosure policies need to be improved.