View our full results in PDF form here, and check out examples of progress here.

What is the Tracking Progress Update?

The Climate Collaborative’s (CC) Tracking Progress Update highlights the type and amount of progress that committed companies are making around their climate action commitments. We ask these questions via a short annual survey. We ask companies where in the implementation process they are, whether they are quantifying emissions reductions, and for details on their progress. Companies are expected to provide information for each commitment they have made; quantitative data is welcome but not required.

This update is the primary way we are able to assess progress in the industry on an annual basis. 2019 is the second tracking progress cycle for the CC; we asked all companies that made commitments before December 31, 2018 to respond, a total of 324 companies. To learn more about CC commitments visit www.climatecollaborative.com/take_action.

Summary Results

We received 235 responses covering a total of 623 climate action commitments (representing 73% of the number of companies requested to respond). This is an increase from 168 responses in 2018. We do assess some general trends across the commitments for the two-year period, though we want to highlight there is variance in who responded year over year.  

We are recognizing companies that responded on our Take Action page, in bold. The remainder of companies listed are nonresponding companies, and companies that made commitments after December 31^st, 2018.

Commitment Progress

The responses showed that around three-quarters of companies are already actively implementing their commitments.

On average, 71% of responding companies are in the midst of implementing their climate commitments. This represents an increase from 66% respondents reporting that they were implementing in 2018.

The remaining 29% of companies responding are either in active planning stages or haven’t yet determined how they will implement their commitments.

Food Waste is the commitment area in which responding companies are making the most progress, with 83% of these companies actively implementing (up from 74% in 2018). Companies are also making strong progress implementing short-lived climate pollutant commitments, with 81% of responding companies actively implementing the commitment (up from 50% in 2018).

Policy is the commitment area in which companies reported making the least progress. For Policy, 60% of companies have begun implementing the commitment, though this represents a substantial increase in implementation, from just 51% in 2018.

From 2018 to 2019 there was an overall percentage growth in companies that responded reporting that they are implementing climate action across seven of the nine commitment areas. Renewable Energy and Transportation are the two exceptions, which the former falling from 75% implementing to 69% from 2018 to 2019, and the latter from 75% to 65%.

Quantifying Emissions Reductions:

On average, companies report quantifying emissions reductions from their commitments 45% of the time, an increase from 36% in 2018. Progress in quantifying emissions reductions was most advanced around Renewable Energy, with 68% of the companies reporting that they were quantifying progress (down from 70% in 2018). This was followed by Transportation, with 62% of reporting companies quantifying reductions (up from 46% last year), and Food Waste, with 61% reporting companies quantifying reductions (up from 20% last year).

Quantification was least advanced around Forests, with only 19% of companies reporting that they are quantifying reductions (down from 30% in 2018), followed by Packaging, with 23% of companies reporting they are quantifying reductions (stable since 2018). 

Reporting platforms used:

As part of the survey, we asked companies which external reporting platforms they used. According to survey respondents, B Lab is the top reporting platform among committed companies, with 32% of respondents on this question also reporting to B Lab, followed by 11% reporting through SFTA. 45% of companies reported not using a formal reporting platform. Companies also referenced using 1% for the Planet, Carbon Neutral, NCG Coefficient, CCOF, Climate Registry, Fair for Life, and GRI.

Other demographic information:

View the full results by commitment here, and read examples of progress here.