CEO Climate Alliance Achieves 10 Percent Emissions Cut While Surpassing Global GDP Growth

The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, the world’s largest CEO-led coalition focused on net-zero emissions, has achieved a significant 10 percent reduction in aggregate emissions between 2019 and 2022, according to a new analysis. This progress comes as the alliance members also recorded 18 percent aggregate revenue growth, outpacing global GDP growth of 15 percent during the same period. The alliance’s collective emissions reductions, equivalent to the annual output of France or the United Kingdom, demonstrate that climate action and economic success can go hand in hand. 

The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, launched alongside the Paris Agreement, spans 12 industries, including healthcare, retail, heavy industry, and agriculture, employing over 12 million people globally. The coalition’s remarkable achievement underscores its commitment to tackling emissions across all scopes, with a special focus on the most challenging Scope 3 emissions, which account for 85 percent of the alliance’s combined footprint. 

The reduction of 450 megatons of emissions across all three scopes—Scope 1 (direct emissions), Scope 2 (indirect emissions from energy consumption), and Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions)—was achieved through a variety of strategies. In 2023, 19 percent more members took steps to address Scope 3 upstream emissions, which included incorporating sustainability into procurement decisions, assisting suppliers in reducing their carbon footprints, and paying green premiums. Furthermore, a 12 percent increase was noted in alliance members tackling downstream Scope 3 emissions through sustainable product designs and partnerships with clients to reduce life-cycle emissions. 

The coalition’s success highlights the potential for businesses to lead on climate action without compromising economic growth. “Bold and decisive leadership is essential for accelerating the net-zero transition,” said Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum. “The Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders has shown that cutting emissions while delivering stakeholder value is not only possible but beneficial.” 

Alliance members’ combined revenue growth amounted to over $640 million, achieved while reducing emissions. This stands in stark contrast to the emissions performance of major economies like the United States and the European Union, which achieved only a 2 percent and 3 percent reduction, respectively, while countries like India and China saw emissions increase by 6 percent and 7 percent. The alliance’s progress even outpaces the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which requires a 42 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and 25 percent in Scope 3 by 2030. 

Sumant Sinha, Chairman and CEO of ReNew, and Co-Chair of the alliance, pointed to the alliance’s global footprint, with companies from 27 countries, as proof that climate economics can work in both developed and emerging markets. 

The alliance’s achievements align with the goals of the Sustainable Development Impact Meetings 2024, held from 23 to 27 September in New York. Over 1,000 global leaders are attending the event to assess and renew commitments to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, with a focus on climate action and economic growth. 

As the world continues to face environmental and economic challenges, the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders is paving the way for businesses to drive meaningful change through collective action, proving that climate leadership and economic success are not mutually exclusive.