EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Climate Collaborative's Tracking Progress 2023 Annual Report summarizes the results of the Tracking Progress Survey, an annual assessment of how companies have made progress on their climate action commitments over the previous year (2022). The data gathered and shared is essential to the Collaborative and our broader community as we collaborate to develop and implement climate solutions. The survey also provides valuable insights into barriers to action and broader industry trends, which we use to inform our work and support companies in meeting their climate goals. At the time of this report, 769 companies have made more than 2,847 climate commitments through the Climate Collaborative. This year’s report reflects responses from 154 organizations encompassing 515 climate action commitments.
We continue to assess the barriers to climate action by examining how the pandemic and other macroeconomic trends are impacting progress on climate commitments. The top factors impacting climate action across all Commitment areas this past year were macroeconomic impacts (e.g., inflation and concerns of recession), pandemic impacts, transportation-related supply chain issues, and labor shortages. Overall, companies were less affected by all areas this year except macroeconomic impacts, which remains a barrier for half of the Collaborative’s reporting companies.
Reporting companies also cited budget cuts, wage and project cost increases, and internal reorganization as barriers to climate action. Despite a number of potential barriers, 30% of companies said their climate action has not been impacted this year compared to 18% in 2022.
To better support companies integrating climate into all aspects of operations, we assess work that is happening inside organizations to operationalize climate. This year, 72% of respondents indicated that climate action is part of their overarching business strategy, a slight 3% decrease from last year. In addition, 73% of respondents have taken steps to reduce emissions throughout their entire organization, a 10% drop from last year. Further, 72% of reporting companies prioritize emissions reductions before relying on offsets, down 3% from 2022. The Climate Collaborative encourages companies to reduce emissions first, followed by the use of quality offsets.