'No offsets, no excuses': the pursuit of real zero
Reality has since caught up with a number of them, with Climate Integrity director Claire Snyder of the view some had little intention of ever following through on their promises.
"It's very easy to set a net zero commitment target, it's actually much harder to achieve it," according to the head of the national advocacy organisation founded in 2024 to promote transparency, accountability and adherence to climate science.
Still, not all businesses are treating climate pledges as a marketing exercise.
Lendlease, IKEA and Fortescue have all been singled out by the not-for-profit research group for their "real zero" leadership, with the latter the only heavy-emitting industrial company in the world targeting no fossil fuels.
Distinct from "net zero", which allows companies to neutralise emission by sinking money into growing trees and other carbon-cutting projects, "real zero" refers to decarbonisation through clean technologies - no offsets allowed.
Originally intended as a last-resort for sectors with no emissions-free tech options, offsets have since become a way for companies to make little effort to decarbonise while throwing money at green projects elsewhere.
While proponents argue offsets funnel funds into clean energy and revegetation, a host of reliability and permanence concerns have come to light and EnergyAustralia has recently been forced to apologise to customers for using them to spruik "carbon neutral" products.
For Ms Snyder, elevating climate leaders was pivotal at a time of ambition backsliding concentrated in the US where businesses are experiencing political and legal pressure to ditch environmental policies and activities.
While not entirely immune, she said Australian-based firms were able to create some distance and had produced fewer abandoned or watered-down climate commitments.
Lendlease head of sustainability Cate Harris said for her company, which has been chipping away at its decarbonisation targets for years, it was full-steam ahead.
"What sort of insulates us a little, particularly across our sector, is that the green building movement is now over 20 years old," she told AAP.
The construction and real estate giant has an interim net zero carbon target by 2025 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, an offset-reliant commitment that is on track.
More ambitious is its long-term "absolute zero" plan, which will see the real estate giant eliminate emissions without offsets, including those produced in the making of building materials.
Cutting out what's known as "embodied carbon" from steel, concrete, glass and aluminium remains a major challenge as it's outside the company's direct control and relies on suppliers investing in green production lines.
"They are actually probably four of the harder-to-abate sectors globally," she said.
Ms Harris reported "green shoots" across all four materials and was confident the real estate company could meet its 2040 decarbonisation goals.
"No offsets, no excuses," she said.
Ms Snyder said the corporate pursuit of emissions reductions remained a largely opt-in and voluntary affair, with the exception of the safeguard mechanism for big polluters.
Even that was dominated by offset use rather than actual decarbonisation, she said, and having "very low to moderate impact on emissions" based on the latest data.
She said regulatory regimes clamping down on greenwashing and climate information transparency should be compulsory.
"Unless they're mandatory, we're not going to see the change that we need to see at the pace that we need to see it."
Originally set up as a government-level commitment under the international Paris climate pact to limit warming to 1.5C or well below 2C, net zero was never intended to be adopted by corporations.
The pursuit of carbon neutrality by 2050 - that is, cutting emissions wherever possible and then countering sectors with no legitimate options for decarbonisation with reliable carbon dioxide removal strategies - is key to achieving Australia's temperature goals.
Five years ago, companies of all shapes and sizes were setting net zero targets.
Reality has since caught up with a number of them, with Climate Integrity director Claire Snyder of the view some had little intention of ever following through on their promises.
"It's very easy to set a net zero commitment target, it's actually much harder to achieve it," according to the head of the national advocacy organisation founded in 2024 to promote transparency, accountability and adherence to climate science.
Still, not all businesses are treating climate pledges as a marketing exercise.
Lendlease, IKEA and Fortescue have all been singled out by the not-for-profit research group for their "real zero" leadership, with the latter the only heavy-emitting industrial company in the world targeting no fossil fuels.
Distinct from "net zero", which allows companies to neutralise emission by sinking money into growing trees and other carbon-cutting projects, "real zero" refers to decarbonisation through clean technologies - no offsets allowed.
Originally intended as a last-resort for sectors with no emissions-free tech options, offsets have since become a way for companies to make little effort to decarbonise while throwing money at green projects elsewhere.
While proponents argue offsets funnel funds into clean energy and revegetation, a host of reliability and permanence concerns have come to light and EnergyAustralia has recently been forced to apologise to customers for using them to spruik "carbon neutral" products.
For Ms Snyder, elevating climate leaders was pivotal at a time of ambition backsliding concentrated in the US where businesses are experiencing political and legal pressure to ditch environmental policies and activities.
While not entirely immune, she said Australian-based firms were able to create some distance and had produced fewer abandoned or watered-down climate commitments.
Lendlease head of sustainability Cate Harris said for her company, which has been chipping away at its decarbonisation targets for years, it was full-steam ahead.
"What sort of insulates us a little, particularly across our sector, is that the green building movement is now over 20 years old," she told AAP.
The construction and real estate giant has an interim net zero carbon target by 2025 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, an offset-reliant commitment that is on track.
More ambitious is its long-term "absolute zero" plan, which will see the real estate giant eliminate emissions without offsets, including those produced in the making of building materials.
Cutting out what's known as "embodied carbon" from steel, concrete, glass and aluminium remains a major challenge as it's outside the company's direct control and relies on suppliers investing in green production lines.
"They are actually probably four of the harder-to-abate sectors globally," she said.
Ms Harris reported "green shoots" across all four materials and was confident the real estate company could meet its 2040 decarbonisation goals.
"No offsets, no excuses," she said.
Ms Snyder said the corporate pursuit of emissions reductions remained a largely opt-in and voluntary affair, with the exception of the safeguard mechanism for big polluters.
Even that was dominated by offset use rather than actual decarbonisation, she said, and having "very low to moderate impact on emissions" based on the latest data.
She said regulatory regimes clamping down on greenwashing and climate information transparency should be compulsory.
"Unless they're mandatory, we're not going to see the change that we need to see at the pace that we need to see it."
Originally set up as a government-level commitment under the international Paris climate pact to limit warming to 1.5C or well below 2C, net zero was never intended to be adopted by corporations.
The pursuit of carbon neutrality by 2050 - that is, cutting emissions wherever possible and then countering sectors with no legitimate options for decarbonisation with reliable carbon dioxide removal strategies - is key to achieving Australia's temperature goals.
Five years ago, companies of all shapes and sizes were setting net zero targets.
Reality has since caught up with a number of them, with Climate Integrity director Claire Snyder of the view some had little intention of ever following through on their promises.
"It's very easy to set a net zero commitment target, it's actually much harder to achieve it," according to the head of the national advocacy organisation founded in 2024 to promote transparency, accountability and adherence to climate science.
Still, not all businesses are treating climate pledges as a marketing exercise.
Lendlease, IKEA and Fortescue have all been singled out by the not-for-profit research group for their "real zero" leadership, with the latter the only heavy-emitting industrial company in the world targeting no fossil fuels.
Distinct from "net zero", which allows companies to neutralise emission by sinking money into growing trees and other carbon-cutting projects, "real zero" refers to decarbonisation through clean technologies - no offsets allowed.
Originally intended as a last-resort for sectors with no emissions-free tech options, offsets have since become a way for companies to make little effort to decarbonise while throwing money at green projects elsewhere.
While proponents argue offsets funnel funds into clean energy and revegetation, a host of reliability and permanence concerns have come to light and EnergyAustralia has recently been forced to apologise to customers for using them to spruik "carbon neutral" products.
For Ms Snyder, elevating climate leaders was pivotal at a time of ambition backsliding concentrated in the US where businesses are experiencing political and legal pressure to ditch environmental policies and activities.
While not entirely immune, she said Australian-based firms were able to create some distance and had produced fewer abandoned or watered-down climate commitments.
Lendlease head of sustainability Cate Harris said for her company, which has been chipping away at its decarbonisation targets for years, it was full-steam ahead.
"What sort of insulates us a little, particularly across our sector, is that the green building movement is now over 20 years old," she told AAP.
The construction and real estate giant has an interim net zero carbon target by 2025 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, an offset-reliant commitment that is on track.
More ambitious is its long-term "absolute zero" plan, which will see the real estate giant eliminate emissions without offsets, including those produced in the making of building materials.
Cutting out what's known as "embodied carbon" from steel, concrete, glass and aluminium remains a major challenge as it's outside the company's direct control and relies on suppliers investing in green production lines.
"They are actually probably four of the harder-to-abate sectors globally," she said.
Ms Harris reported "green shoots" across all four materials and was confident the real estate company could meet its 2040 decarbonisation goals.
"No offsets, no excuses," she said.
Ms Snyder said the corporate pursuit of emissions reductions remained a largely opt-in and voluntary affair, with the exception of the safeguard mechanism for big polluters.
Even that was dominated by offset use rather than actual decarbonisation, she said, and having "very low to moderate impact on emissions" based on the latest data.
She said regulatory regimes clamping down on greenwashing and climate information transparency should be compulsory.
"Unless they're mandatory, we're not going to see the change that we need to see at the pace that we need to see it."
Originally set up as a government-level commitment under the international Paris climate pact to limit warming to 1.5C or well below 2C, net zero was never intended to be adopted by corporations.
The pursuit of carbon neutrality by 2050 - that is, cutting emissions wherever possible and then countering sectors with no legitimate options for decarbonisation with reliable carbon dioxide removal strategies - is key to achieving Australia's temperature goals.
Five years ago, companies of all shapes and sizes were setting net zero targets.
Reality has since caught up with a number of them, with Climate Integrity director Claire Snyder of the view some had little intention of ever following through on their promises.
"It's very easy to set a net zero commitment target, it's actually much harder to achieve it," according to the head of the national advocacy organisation founded in 2024 to promote transparency, accountability and adherence to climate science.
Still, not all businesses are treating climate pledges as a marketing exercise.
Lendlease, IKEA and Fortescue have all been singled out by the not-for-profit research group for their "real zero" leadership, with the latter the only heavy-emitting industrial company in the world targeting no fossil fuels.
Distinct from "net zero", which allows companies to neutralise emission by sinking money into growing trees and other carbon-cutting projects, "real zero" refers to decarbonisation through clean technologies - no offsets allowed.
Originally intended as a last-resort for sectors with no emissions-free tech options, offsets have since become a way for companies to make little effort to decarbonise while throwing money at green projects elsewhere.
While proponents argue offsets funnel funds into clean energy and revegetation, a host of reliability and permanence concerns have come to light and EnergyAustralia has recently been forced to apologise to customers for using them to spruik "carbon neutral" products.
For Ms Snyder, elevating climate leaders was pivotal at a time of ambition backsliding concentrated in the US where businesses are experiencing political and legal pressure to ditch environmental policies and activities.
While not entirely immune, she said Australian-based firms were able to create some distance and had produced fewer abandoned or watered-down climate commitments.
Lendlease head of sustainability Cate Harris said for her company, which has been chipping away at its decarbonisation targets for years, it was full-steam ahead.
"What sort of insulates us a little, particularly across our sector, is that the green building movement is now over 20 years old," she told AAP.
The construction and real estate giant has an interim net zero carbon target by 2025 for scope 1 and 2 emissions, an offset-reliant commitment that is on track.
More ambitious is its long-term "absolute zero" plan, which will see the real estate giant eliminate emissions without offsets, including those produced in the making of building materials.
Cutting out what's known as "embodied carbon" from steel, concrete, glass and aluminium remains a major challenge as it's outside the company's direct control and relies on suppliers investing in green production lines.
"They are actually probably four of the harder-to-abate sectors globally," she said.
Ms Harris reported "green shoots" across all four materials and was confident the real estate company could meet its 2040 decarbonisation goals.
"No offsets, no excuses," she said.
Ms Snyder said the corporate pursuit of emissions reductions remained a largely opt-in and voluntary affair, with the exception of the safeguard mechanism for big polluters.
Even that was dominated by offset use rather than actual decarbonisation, she said, and having "very low to moderate impact on emissions" based on the latest data.
She said regulatory regimes clamping down on greenwashing and climate information transparency should be compulsory.
"Unless they're mandatory, we're not going to see the change that we need to see at the pace that we need to see it."
Originally set up as a government-level commitment under the international Paris climate pact to limit warming to 1.5C or well below 2C, net zero was never intended to be adopted by corporations.
The pursuit of carbon neutrality by 2050 - that is, cutting emissions wherever possible and then countering sectors with no legitimate options for decarbonisation with reliable carbon dioxide removal strategies - is key to achieving Australia's temperature goals.
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The gap is driven by three main factors - gender segregation of occupations and industries, unequal distribution of caring and family responsibilities and workplace discrimination - research by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency found. Thousands of people have used the agency's pay calculator to work out their equal pay date at their employer. It should be a call-to-action for employers and spark conversations about the gender pay gap in workplaces, the agency's chief executive Mary Wooldridge said. "We can talk about pay gap percentages but when you see it in terms of actual numbers of days women need to work to earn the same as men, it makes it very tangible," she told AAP. "For executives, this is an opportunity as leaders and people managers to take steps to understand what is driving pay gaps in the workplace, and can be a catalyst for starting that process. 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"Equal Pay Day is a stark reminder of the economic reality for women, and our 21.5-year time frame quantifies the long road ahead," index founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman said. "While it's positive to see the number come down over the long term, it represents the median point in a much more complex journey. "The fact that women have to work an extra 50 days into the new financial year just to catch up to men's earnings is unacceptable." Employers are being urged to end the gender pay gap by addressing segregation and workplace discrimination, as data reveals it could still take more than 20 years to close the gap. Equal Pay Day on August 19 marks the 50 additional days women must work on average to earn the same amount their male colleagues had by the end of the financial year. 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"For employees, it's a chance to start a conversation that sometimes can be delicate, but the data enables them to be more informed in terms of having that conversation." More than eight in 10 Australian employers - 84.7 per cent - have average gender pay gaps outside the target range of plus or minus five per cent. "Every industry in Australia, including those that are women-dominated or that are gender-balanced, has a gender pay gap in favour of men," Ms Wooldridge said. "Equal Pay Day reminds us that there is still significant work to do to achieve equal and fair workplaces for all people." The timeline to reach pay equity in Australia is currently 21.5 years, according to analysis by the Financy Women's Index. When the timeline was first measured in 2017, it estimated the gender pay gap would take 37.5 years to fix. "Equal Pay Day is a stark reminder of the economic reality for women, and our 21.5-year time frame quantifies the long road ahead," index founder Bianca Hartge-Hazelman said. "While it's positive to see the number come down over the long term, it represents the median point in a much more complex journey. "The fact that women have to work an extra 50 days into the new financial year just to catch up to men's earnings is unacceptable."
