Voluntary corporate 2050 net zero targets as something to be lauded in climate land bother me. A few reasons https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">

1) The average tenure of a corporate CEO is ~ 7 years and trending down. Leaders change and so does company direction https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/02/12/ceo-tenure-rates/">https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2018/02/1...

It’s not just CEOs. Average tenure on corporate boards is only ~8 years (and falling). Which means senior leadership turns over entirely 1/3 of the way through these commitments

But forget leadership the average age of a publicly listed company is down to just 20 years. Many of the companies may not be around to make good on these commitments in 2050 but they’ll be around to contribute to the problem in the meantime https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/08/24/technology-killing-off-corporations-average-lifespan-of-company-under-20-years.html">https://www.google.com/amp/s/www...

That’s not theoretical - only 12% of Fortune 500 companies from the 50’s are with us today. All said and done 9 of every 10 companies are gone, merged or contracted. Not great odds for leading a transition 30 years from now https://www.aei.org/carpe-diem/fortune-500-firms-1955-v-2017-only-12-remain-thanks-to-the-creative-destruction-that-fuels-economic-prosperity/">https://www.aei.org/carpe-die...

So lets judge companies based on commitments for investment in the next business cycle (~ 5-7 years). @MLiebreich makes the case well that we’ve only got 2 left. It is after all real world investment, not decades off goals, that make the world go round https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-two-business-cycles-prepare-low-carbon-world">https://about.bnef.com/blog/lieb...