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Limited accountability and awareness of corporate emissions target outcomes

Author

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  • Xiaoyan Jiang

    (New York University)

  • Shawn Kim

    (University of California)

  • Shirley Lu

    (Harvard Business School)

Abstract

Firms are increasingly announcing targets to reduce their carbon emissions, but it is unclear whether firms are held accountable for these targets. Here we examine emissions targets that ended in 2020 to investigate the final target outcomes, the transparency of target outcomes and potential consequences for missed emissions targets. A total of 1,041 firms had emissions targets ending in 2020, of which 88 (9%) failed and 320 (31%) disappeared. We find limited accountability and low awareness of the target outcomes. Only three of the failed firms are covered by the media. After a firm fails its 2020 emissions target, we do not observe significant market reaction, changes in media sentiment, environmental scores and environment-related shareholder proposals. In contrast, initial announcements of these 2020 emissions targets are rewarded with significant improvements in media sentiment and environmental scores. Our findings raise concerns for the accountability of emissions targets ending in 2030 and 2050.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaoyan Jiang & Shawn Kim & Shirley Lu, 2025. "Limited accountability and awareness of corporate emissions target outcomes," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 15(3), pages 279-286, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcli:v:15:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1038_s41558-024-02236-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-024-02236-3
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Shirley Lu, 2026. "Green Bonds: Reputational Bonding via Media Coverage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 72(6), pages 5171-5192, June.
    2. Leonelli, Sinja & Muhn, Maximilian & Rauter, Thomas & Sran, Gurpal S., 2026. "How do consumers use ESG disclosure? Evidence from a randomized field experiment with everyday product purchases," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1).
    3. Kerstin Forster & Lucas Keil & Victor Wagner & Maximilian A. Müller & Thorsten Sellhorn & Stefan Feuerriegel, 2026. "Assessing corporate sustainability with large language models: evidence from Europe," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 17(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. Hadi Veisi, 2025. "Advancing Energy Transition and Climate Accountability in Wisconsin Firms: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Huang, June & Lu, Shirley, 2025. "Gender diversity performance and voluntary disclosure: Mind the (gender pay) gap," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    6. Glenk, Gunther & Gschwind, Katrin & Reichelstein, Stefan, 2026. "Decarbonizing a portfolio of operating assets: Cost estimates for vehicle fleets," ZEW Discussion Papers 26-011, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.

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