Voters Want Companies Accountable for Yearly, Immediate Carbon Emissions Reduction
By Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and Jason Katz-Brown, CTO of Data for Progress
If a company pledges a long-term carbon emissions reduction, with no concrete details on how they’ll attain it, as their emissions increase each year… is such a commitment meaningful?
Our new survey, conducted from December 2021 to January 2022, suggests that the public can see through hollow pledges. Voters want companies and their executives accountable for immediate emissions reduction goals.
Yearly goals garner more support than 2050 goals
By a +53-point margin, voters support “companies committing to reducing carbon emissions… 5% a year for the next ten years, to achieve 50% reduction by 2030.” A “net-zero… by 2050” goal is still popular, but slightly less so, by a +48-point margin.
This pattern is consistent across partisanship: Democrats, Independents, and Republicans all indicate higher support for reducing emissions 5 percent a year for the next 10 years than for a 2050 goal.
Voters want to see CEOs personally accountable for yearly emissions reduction
Few companies tie executive compensation to emissions reduction and many companies reward executives for meeting environmental goals even as their carbon emissions continue to increase. This must change.
By a +29-point margin, voters support tying executive compensation to a 5 percent emissions reduction per year for the next 10 years.
Voters want CEOs to commit to yearly, immediate emissions reduction — and have their compensation depend on it.
Andrew Behar is CEO of As You Sow, the nation’s leading shareholder advocacy nonprofit.
Jason Katz-Brown (@jasonkatzbrown) is CTO of Data for Progress.