The net zero dominos are not falling

Climate change discourse is trending toward dramatic posturing, political bluster and downright disinformation. This is reinforced by a news cycle listing toward erratic, and partially informed commentary rather than the facts.

This is part one of a series of articles I’m writing in Thought off the Press that stay centered on facts rather than the amplification of net zero handwringing or ESG is dead confirmation bias.

I get the ick from the media gleefulness whenever corporations walk back or re-calibrate their climate targets and ESG efforts. This year some major corporations made headlines for walking back their sustainability and ESG commitments, including Coca-Cola, Target, BP, Unilever and several financial institutions. The prevailing mythology in 2025 is that ESG is on its way out and the net zero dominos are falling.

However, the facts show that companies are largely staying true or deepening climate targets.

Harvard Business Review published an article: Are Companies Actually Scaling Back Their Climate Commitments? What the authors found is that only 8% of companies have materially retreated from their sustainability efforts and that more than 50% of top companies are holding strong or reaffirming commitments. One third of the companies are accelerating with new targets and more investments in sustainability.

The article does indicate companies are greenhushing and leaving coalitions that could accelerate market transformation and instead proceeding with a much quieter focus on operational integration and value creation due to an unfavorable political environment.

These findings are reinforced by Accenture’s Destination net zero 2025 survey analyzing 4,000 of the world’s largest companies (G4000). They found that globally 90% of companies now link decarbonization to business value; 41% of G2000 companies have set full net-zero targets, up from 27% in 2021.

PWC’s report that analyzed company CDP reporting is aligned with the others and concludes that 84% of reporting companies are keeping or accelerating their climate targets.

This article is also published on Substack. illuminem Voices is a democratic space presenting the thoughts and opinions of leading Sustainability & Energy writers, their opinions do not necessarily represent those of illuminem.

See how the companies in your sector perform on sustainability. On illuminem’s Data Hub™, access emissions data, ESG performance, and climate commitments for thousands of industrial players across the globe.