The Net Zero Tracker’s 2024 assessment of the intent and integrity of global climate commitments shows only a modest increase in net zero targets set by subnational governments (states and regions, and cities) in the past year. Some of this year’s key findings are as follows:
- The number of companies, cities, and regions with net zero targets increased, up 23%, 8% and 28%, respectively, since the previous Net Zero Stocktake in June 2023.
- However, more than 40% of major non-state and subnational actors still have no emissions reduction targets.
- On measures of integrity, there has been limited improvement in national, subnational and company net zero strategies over the past eighteen months.
- Regional governments should improve vertical alignment with national goals on short and long-term target setting, including policies that support net zero implementation.
- Members of the Race to Zero, led by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, perform better than non-members on key elements of good net zero practice.
- The number of company net zero targets meeting all minimum levels of integrity has increased 63% since June 2023, but the absolute number remains low (61 of 1,145).
The Net Zero Stocktake is a comprehensive analysis of whole-economy efforts toward net zero undertaken annually by the Net Zero Tracker (NZT). NZT is an independent research consortium comprising the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, Data-Driven EnviroLab, NewClimate Institute and Oxford Net Zero.
This report was prepared by Sybrig Smit, Camilla Hyslop, John Lang, Frederic Hans, Takeshi Kuramochi, Thomas Hale, Diego Cristobal Manya-Gutierrez, Sophia Schubert, Saskia Straub, Eve Fraser, Federica Dossi, Nabila Salsabila, Frances Green, Nick Hay, Angel Hsu and Steve Smith. Read more and download the report on the NZT website.
