Resources/The Climate Commitment Gap

Nobody is walking away from net zero.

55% of organisations hold a formal net zero target. 3% have built everything needed to deliver it.

We surveyed 500 sustainability decision makers across the US and UK to find out the actions they are taking to tackle climate change.

The Reality DepartmentWAVE 1 · 2026
CLIMATE · US & UK · n=500
The Climate Commitment Gap.
55% hold a target. 3% have built it.
How business leaders are really responding to climate change.
Reality. Properly understood.
55%
have a formal net zero target
30%
have made that target public, with a date attached
15%
have a public target funded above 5% of CapEx
3%
also have a board level plan and full Scope 3 measurement
Some of the findings

Some of the findings.

Based on a survey of 500 sustainability decision makers across the US and UK, conducted in 2026.
01 · The cascade

Commitment holds. Funding doesn’t.

Every stage of commitment cuts the field nearly in half. The steepest drop isn’t at the point of announcement, it’s at the point of funding.

02 · The four positions

Two groups that look identical from outside

Integrators and Declarers announce at almost the same rate. Everything behind the announcement is different.

03 · The blind spot

Nobody is planning for the weather

Half have assessed their exposure to physical climate events. Two thirds of those don’t actually have a plan.

Two markets. Two completely different bottlenecks.

United States

The problem is political.

Budgeting against a rulebook nobody can predict.

United Kingdom

The problem is physical.

Grid queues and the cost of capital stand between target and delivery.

Asked what’s actually stopping them, they don’t say ambition.

Our transition plan is board approved but it is not funded. That is the honest answer.

Sustainability Manager, transport and logistics

It has become politically sensitive with parts of our customer base, so we have deliberately lowered the volume.

Head of Sustainability, retail

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How this research was conducted
500
sustainability decision makers
250 / 250
split across the US and UK
94%
sit in a dedicated sustainability role

We segmented businesses using a range of questions within the survey that are shown in the report.

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