By Roberto Vitali-Lawn, 2024 COP29 Fellow
As a young person living in the 21st century, I, like many in my generation, sometimes feel apathetic toward the major societal challenges we face. The big issue I often focus on is climate change and how we can adapt the global economy to a net-zero future to ensure that future generations have the same chances that I had. I know, a light topic.
With this on my mind during many late nights, I find myself spiralling down a research rabbit hole, trying to understand how we will reach net zero. Is it through offsets? Mitigation? Adaptation? Will it be driven by government policy or private finance? Both?
With so many potential solutions and areas of focus, one central issue keeps coming up repeatedly: the need for consistent, transparent, and verifiable data to ensure we are moving forward and holding those who don’t to account. Because I ask you, how do we know if we’re on track to achieve net zero? We see countless emission targets set by companies and corporations, and we talk about the progress of decarbonization. But often, I see that this decarbonization is done through the selling of assets to another company or offset programs, but not through the innovation, mitigation of said emissions, or integration of more carbon-friendly measures. Essentially, how do we know? And what does the emission data tell us?
Let’s take a step back and talk about how we look at emission data
Typically, emissions are broken into Scopes 1, 2, and 3. (There’s a fourth, but we’ll avoid complicating things here.) Here’s an easy breakdown of the three scopes using the example of a coffee shop:
Scope 1 (Direct Emissions): These are emissions directly from the company’s own operations. For a coffee shop, this includes emissions from any on-site gas heating or company-owned delivery vehicles.
Scope 2 (Indirect Emissions from Energy): These are emissions generated by the electricity or energy a company purchases to run its business. For the coffee shop, this would cover emissions from the electricity used to power lights, espresso machines, and refrigerators.
Scope 3 (Other Indirect Emissions): Scope 3 includes all other indirect emissions that occur in the supply chain, both upstream (before it reaches the coffee shop) and downstream (after the product leaves). For our coffee shop, this would include emissions from growing, harvesting, and transporting the coffee beans, packaging materials, and even the impact of customers driving to the shop.
Scope 3 is often the hardest to track because it requires information from suppliers and partners. It’s a bit like being a procurement manager, but now you are considering not just the immediate bottom line but all the hidden costs that could arise over time. For instance, if the coffee cups are made from large amounts of plastic, which require significant energy compared to paper cups. These indirect emissions are often far larger than Scope 1 and 2 but are crucial to understanding the full environmental impact. With that, over 70% of companies' emissions can be attributed to Scope 3 (World Economic Forum 2023).

Due to Scope 3 being the hardest to track, 83% (World Resources Institute 2022) of companies find it challenging to access data due to the complexity of their supply chains. With this, there is often a lack of ambition from companies and society to commit and focus on climate change, as they don't know exactly what they are committing to. Only 37% (Accenture 2023). of the G2000 companies have targets that means they are fully committed to Net Zero, inclusive of Scope 3. This makes sense inherently when thinking about personal goals: why make a goal when you can’t see how it would look? Would you make yourself look foolish when you can reach the goals?
Now let’s shift tact a little bit here (I promise it will become relevant later on). Consider the investment industry. Whether you realize it or not, you’re likely already investing—maybe not directly, but through institutions you've entrusted with your funds. This might include a university endowment that funds scholarships, your superannuation fund for retirement, or investments managed by a religious organization or insurer. Investment touches almost every part of life.
Many of these investors—universities, pension funds, religious organizations, and more—have specific focus areas guiding their investments, from sectors they avoid to causes they prioritize. However, these investors typically don’t manage the individual stock and bond selections themselves. Instead, they rely on the asset management industry, which, according to recent figures, manages over $120 trillion globally (McKinsey & Company 2022). Managers work to secure capital from investors, which they then use to buy stocks, bonds, and other assets, generating returns on behalf of their clients.
A growing priority among investors is sustainability, especially in the context of net-zero targets. For example, a university’s students and faculty often advocate for more sustainable investment strategies that align with climate goals. To keep these clients happy, asset managers increasingly commit to addressing climate risks and targeting net-zero emissions in their portfolios. In 2022, for instance, over 325 asset managers have committed to achieve net zero by 2050 or sooner through the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (Net Zero Asset Managers initiative n.d.) (see image below on how climate goals are created in the investment world).

So, this leads me back to data. Companies can’t accurately state how they can get to net zero. Therefore, Asset managers across the entire industry can currently deflect investor and stakeholder concerns due to a lack of emission data availability up the supply chain. However, with increased pressure and focus by investors. We are seeing a larger and larger focus on improvements in data collection and availability.
Going forward, with the improvements of data, stakeholder and investor concerns would have to be taken seriously by asset managers and holding companies; otherwise, they fear a drop in share price and investor redemption. This increased transparency, I believe, can be the major driver in pushing us to achieve net zero.
So, what I say to the apathetic young person who doesn’t know if this issue of climate will ever be solved. The more pressure and the more your voice are put in the right circles the greater chance we have of solving this issue.
References
World Economic Forum. (2023, January). Climate change emissions: Scope 3 companies and ESG. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/01/climate-change-emissions-scope-3-companies-esg/
World Resources Institute. (2022, June). Trends show companies are ready for Scope 3 reporting with US climate disclosure rule. Retrieved from https://www.wri.org
Accenture. (2023). Destination net zero: 2023 report. Retrieved from https://www.accenture.com
McKinsey & Company. (2022). The great reset: North American asset management in 2022. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/industries/financial%20services/our%20insights/the%20great%20reset%20north%20american%20asset%20management%20in%202022/the-great-reset-north-american-asset-management-in-2022.pdf
Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. (n.d.). Signatories. Retrieved from https://www.netzeroassetmanagers.org/signatories/
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The views and opinions expressed by Global Voices Fellows do not necessarily reflect those of the organisation or its staff.