The future of corporate transition planning 10 years after the Paris Agreement

Since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2015, corporate climate commitments have surged: around 60% of all Forbes 2000 companies have announced net-zero pledges and more than 8,500 companies have had their targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) as of 2025. Yet halfway through what the United Nations calls the critical decade for climate action, progress on the ground remains limited. Many companies still lack credible plans to achieve their emissions reduction targets, and evidence of structural changes in business models is scarce. With key corporate accountability standards under revision or development throughout 2025/26 – including the SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Net-Zero Standard – there is a unique opportunity to reshape the system, so it incentivises near-term, credible transitions in corporate operations and business models.

In this context, this event as part of the Paris Climate & Nature Week will reflect on the latest insights into the progress and limitations of corporate transition planning to date. It will also outline proposals that aim to address shortcomings in existing accountability standards in order to incentivise companies to transition their business models. This allows for an informed and controversial discussion on avenues to further improve the corporate climate accountability system in light of the revision of key corporate accountability standards 10 years after Paris that will shape corporate climate action for the decade to come.

Moderator: 

• Frederic Hans, Senior Climate Policy Advisor, NewClimate Institute

Speakers:

• Silke Mooldijk, Climate Policy Analyst, NewClimate Institute
• Jonathan Crook, Lead on Global Carbon Markets, Carbon Market Watch - (TBC)
• Simon Allain, Coordinator of the Accelerate Climate Transitions (ACT) initiative, The French Agency for Ecological Transition (ADEME) - (TBC)
• Alexis McGivern, Head of Stakeholder Engagement, Oxford Net Zero - (TBC)
• Dan Magrath, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Gold Standard - (TBC)

Registration is mandatory and subject to availability.

Read our 2025 edition of the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM), analysing the climate strategies of 55 major global companies and critically assessing their corporate climate leadership.