The State of the Corporate Transition 2025 report has been published by the TPI Global Climate Transition Centre (part of the LSE) , an independent and authoritative source of research on low-carbon economy.

This year’s report assessed 2,000 of the world’s highest-emitting public companies on their climate action across 24 sectors, collectively representing approximately three-quarters of total publicly listed equities worldwide by market capitalisation (US$87 trillion).

The findings show a notable shift in the share of companies aligned with the 1.5°C benchmark – it has more than tripled since their 2020 assessment cycle, from 9% to 30%.

The disclosure of material Scope 3 emissions (often one of the most complex parts of reporting) went up from 36% of companies to 49%, while the percentage of companies actively engaging in climate scenario planning went up from 52% of companies to 64%.

As expected, there are big differences in progress across sectors. The automotive and electricity sectors, for example, achieved emissions intensity reductions nearly five times greater than steel and cement. The oil & gas sector made the least progress.

The report shows that most companies have now acknowledged climate change as a significant issue, have a policy commitment to take action, have set an emissions reduction target, and disclose their Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

However, fewer than 1% of companies have committed to align capital expenditure with their decarbonisation goals – this indicates that companies are not clear on how emissions reduction targets will be financed. Some companies’ plans also depend on unproven technologies.

Although there is definitely progress to be celebrated, the issues of financing and reliance on unproven technologies should be urgently addressed.

We are now half way through what has been described as the ‘Decisive Decade’ on climate, and any commitments need to be backed by properly financed actions.

The State of the Corporate Transition is a treasure trove of information and can be found here.