R readers looking for thrills rarely turn to official reports written by worthy groups. At first glance, one of a soporifically named body the UN High-Level Panel on Net Zero Emissions Commitments by Non-State Entities might be expected to cure insomnia. The team of experts, led by Catherine McKenna, a former Canadian minister, has spent the past seven months looking into the proliferation of climate commitments from banks and big business, as well as cities and regions.

Yawn? Not even a little. The group’s findings, presented to the UN Secretary-General on November 8 at the annual climate summit in Egypt, had both CEOs and activists sitting up. In her opening letter, the blunt and refreshing Ms. McKenna set the tone: “It’s time to draw a red line around greenwashing.

Many companies are making bold promises to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to zero. According to Accenture, a consultancy, about a third of the world’s top 2,000 companies by revenue have now publicly declared net zero goals. Of these, however, 93% have no chance of achieving their goals without doing much more than they currently do. Few companies present credible investment plans or specify milestones against which progress can be judged.

To curb such “rogue climate accounting,” the report urges companies to publicly disclose their progress towards decarbonization using verified and comparable data. He implores regulators to make such disclosures mandatory. Furthermore, according to the authors, companies should not claim to be zero when investing in new fossil fuel supplies (which puts many investment funds in a bind) or rely on intensity reporting. emissions (per unit of production) rather than their absolute volume. And organizations that claim ecology should not simultaneously lobby against climate policies.

All very tonic, and perfectly sensible. Will companies take it to heart? The UNdoes not have the authority to enforce any of the recommendations. The idea that increased monitoring will inevitably lead to better behavior has yet to be tested. It’s all too easy to imagine that it might instead lead to what might be called green-hushing. A survey of some 1,200 large companies in 12 countries by South Pole, a climate consultancy, found that a quarter have set strict emissions reduction targets but have no intention of meeting them. publish them. Some companies remain silent to avoid drawing the wrath of conservative politicians in places like Texas, who speak out against “woke” companies. Others, especially in progressive redoubts like Europe,

Many state entities don’t help, and not just because they avoid tough policies, such as carbon taxes. The day after Ms McKenna laid down her red lines, the US government launched a new program to incentivize big companies in rich countries to buy carbon credits from developing countries that are expanding their renewable energy generation capacity. In theory, this could provide much-needed capital for the urgent task of developing clean energy in emerging markets. In practice, worries Chris Cote of MSCI, a research firm, it will be difficult to say whether any given project would have been funded even without the inducements of deep-pocketed multinational corporations. Without proper oversight, that could mean more greenwash, not less. ■

To stay up to date with the biggest stories in business and technology, sign up for Bottom Line, our weekly subscriber-only newsletter.

For more climate change coverage, sign up for Climate Issue, our bi-monthly subscriber-only newsletter, or visit our climate change hub.