More than 800 Australian businesses going carbon neutral

More than 800 Aussie businesses have made a vow to be carbon neutral by 2050 or sooner. Here are the firms that have stepped up.

More than 800 Australian businesses have made a commitment to be carbon neutral by

2050 or sooner, new research has found.

Australia’s biggest ever analysis of net zero commitments made by companies has found

there are a total of 833 businesses which have pledged to get to net zero.

These include companies as diverse as transport infrastructure giant Sydney Airport and

vitamins and supplements maker Blackmores, who have set carbon neutral targets for 2030.

And, as previously reported, supermarket giant Coles has signed the last of its electricity

agreements to be 100 per cent renewably powered by 2025.

The report will be released on Thursday by data analytics provider Purpose Bureau and is the

largest analysis of net zero commitments made in Australia to date.

Among the findings are:

*833 out of the largest 50,000 businesses in Australia have made a commitment to be

carbon neutral by at least 2050;

*19 per cent (160) of these businesses have committed to short-medium targets, with aims

set between 2026 and 2039;

*81 per cent (673) of these businesses have committed to long-term targets, with aims set

for 2040 and after.

Coles will be 100 per cent renewably powered by 2025. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Sarah Marshall

To get the data, Purpose Bureau reviewed the carbon reduction commitments of the top

50,000 businesses in Australia according to turnover, with all businesses having more than

$2 million in revenue.

This included listed and unlisted private sector firms, listed and unlisted multinationals,

government-owned enterprises, agencies, and other non-profit entities.

Purpose Bureau CEO Nick Kamper said businesses were acting ahead of government policy,

with a huge amount of recent momentum.

“More than 800 Aussie businesses have made commitments to be carbon neutral by at least

2050,” he said.

“This is a huge effort and puts private sector momentum well ahead of the government.”

Mr Kamper said the number was expected to grow as businesses interacted more with

suppliers and customers who were carbon neutral or wanted carbon neutral products.

“Many of these businesses are large and we expect as they begin to engage with their

supply-chains and clients this number will climb rapidly,” he said.

“Almost 1 in 5 of this cohort have made commitments for the short-medium term which

shows an eagerness by some for a greater collective effort in the race to net zero.”

Mr Kamper said Purpose Bureau had compiled Australia’s largest database of real-time

business environmental, social and governance data, with more than 200 insights into more

than two million Australian companies.

Originally published as More than 800 Australian businesses going carbon neutral