For the third year running, UTAM is a signatory to CDP’s Science-Based Targets Campaign. The campaign coordinates global asset owners and major corporate buyers to call on companies to set science-based reduction targets (SBTs) for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The initiative seeks to incentivize high-impact companies to reduce GHG emissions and accelerate the decarbonization of the real economy.

In part, CDP’s 2022 campaign is a response to the sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which shows an urgent need for immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Participating in the SBTi corresponds with significant reductions: analysis of 338 companies with SBTs in place shows that the median cut in emissions achieved is 6.4% per year, well above the average rate needed for 1.5°C alignment.

This year, CDP anticipates targeting approximately 1,200 companies with combined GHG emissions of more than 22 gigatonnes.

CDP conducted two successful annual SBT campaigns in 2020 and 2021, and UTAM signed on to both. In 2021, the campaign brought together 220 financial institutions holding nearly US$30 trillion in assets and 25 corporate buyers with US$500 billion in annual procurement. The campaign asked 1,600 high-impact companies (representing 25% of global Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions) to set SBTs aligned with 1.5°C. Examples of companies engaged in 2021 include BASF, Lufthansa, Samsung, The Southern Company and Tata Steel.

Following the 2020 campaign, 8.1% of targeted companies joined the SBTi, and emissions covered by new targets were, for context, slightly more than Canada’s annual GHG emissions in 2020. Of the companies responding to CDP’s survey, 96% said that investor pressure in general influenced their decision to join the SBTi and 56% reported that CDP’s campaign had a direct influence over the decision.

“The CDP results show that UTAM and other institutional asset owners engaged in this initiative have effectively persuaded target companies to make positive changes,” says UTAM President and CIO Chuck O’Reilly. “We’re more able to drive change when we work together in collaborative engagement initiatives like CDP’s Science-Based Targets Campaign.”

UTAM became a signatory to CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) in 2016. CDP is a non-profit organization that operates the global environmental disclosure platform. The signatory base includes 680+ investors with +$131 trillion in assets and 250+ major corporate buyers with +$5.5 trillion of purchasing power to drive companies’ annual disclosure on climate. Each year, CDP supports thousands of companies and governments in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, safeguarding water resources and protecting forests. UTAM is an active contributor to various other CDP initiatives, including its Non-Disclosure Campaign, in which we engage with companies that have not responded to CDP’s disclosure requests.

Read more about the CDP Science-Based Targets Campaign.