Time left to limit the costliest warming

Net Zero Tracker, Tracking climate progress by listed companies

Listed companies would deplete their share of the global carbon emissions budget for limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C by July 31, 2026, based on their Scope 1 emissions as of Feb. 29, 2024 (Exhibit 19). Note that this refers to the remaining emissions budget for listed companies and not global temperatures, which averaged between 1.35°C (2.43°F) and 1.54°C (2.77°F) above preindustrial levels last year. To limit warming to 1.5°C, companies would need to collectively cap future Scope 1 emissions at 28.9 gigatons (Gt) of CO2e emissions by 2050. Without any change to their current emissions of roughly 11.8 Gt a year, companies would deplete their remaining emissions budget in 2 years, 5 months. To limit warming to 2°C, listed companies would need to collectively cap future Scope 1 emissions at 200 Gt of CO2e by 2050. Without any change to their current emissions, companies would deplete their remaining emissions budget in 16 years, 11 months.

https://www.msci-institute.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Time-left-to-limit-the-costliest-warming_0424.svg

Source: MSCI ESG Research, data as of Feb. 29, 2024.

The hourglass and countdown clock show annual total Scope 1 emissions of MSCI ACWI IMI constituents (not index-weighted) based on listed companies’ reported emissions data and MSCI estimates as of Jan. 31, 2024. Emissions for 2023 that companies haven’t yet reported are based solely on MSCI estimates, given a lag in company reporting. The remaining future emissions budget to achieve a 1.5°C and 2°C warming scenario are calculated based on bottom-up estimates (sum of remaining emissions budget of all MSCI ACWI IMI constituents) as of Feb. 29, 2024.