More companies are making serious commitments to achieve net-zero targets - but fewer companies are ready to act now. Our recent survey, The Push and Pull of Net Zero: Drivers of Climate Action, found that - compared to last year - more companies are setting climate targets, but over 60% of them have either set their targets far out in the future or have not announced any target years at all. Here are the 5 key takeaways from the survey. How can we use these results to accelerate climate action? 1. Nearly half of all polled organizations (45%) have set net zero goals, which is similar to last year's findings, however, encouragingly, the survey finds that the total number of respondents with science-based targets (SBTs) to reduce emissions has nearly doubled since 2020 (from 11% to 18%). Similarly, in 2020, none of the respondents had set both a net zero target and an SBT; in 2021, 13% had done so. Both these trends indicate that companies are becoming more serious about their targets. Yet despite a higher percentage of companies actively working to achieve their net zero targets in line with science, the urgency to act seems to be lacking. More than one in five (22%) have set a net zero target date of 2040 or beyond, and 40% of those who have or are considering a net zero target had not set a specific date to achieve their commitments at all. 2. The survey shows that companies are primarily turning to renewable energy (76%), energy efficiency (58%) and greening supply chains (48%) to achieve net zero targets. These are followed by voluntary offsets (35%) and nature-based solutions (34%). While the majority of companies (61%) planned to use technological removal solutions at some point, they were overall the least preferred approach: only 13% of all companies saw technological carbon removals (like Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage) as their best bet in achieving net zero targets. And while they are the least preferred option by early movers, they are interestingly seen as the preferred option to offset residual emissions by businesses with a late net zero target date either 2040 (71%) or 2050 (58%). 3. Our survey also found that the main drivers for corporate climate action are all clearly business-related: consumer pressure, competition, brand positioning and risk management. More specifically, consumer demand for low-carbon products and services (74%), industry leadership (62%), and the desire to future-proof operations (42%) are pushing organizations towards net zero. 4. Meanwhile, government regulation or policies seem to have very little impact. According to the survey, 'government regulation' was ranked 5th as a driver for companies pursuing net zero targets, signaling that the accountability to reach net zero emissions has not yet been transferred to companies. It seems governments' failure to put in place climate legislation (quickly enough or at all) is curbing the climate ambition of the private sector. 5. The overwhelming majority of respondents still expect top-down leadership to drive net zero commitments, with 69% indicating that C-level leaders played the most critical roles in achieving targets (apart from sustainability leads), followed by operations (37%) and marketing-communications (34%) departments. Procurement, HR, legal, and finance were ranked the lowest. The results suggest that climate action has not yet been 'democratized' within company structures, leaving a gap in leadership to ensure targets are achieved. Read the full report: https://www.southpole.com/the-push-and-pull-of-net-zero