Adopt Short and Long-Term Science-Based GHG Reduction Targets

Resolution Text

Whereas: Climate change is creating systemic risks to the economy, and immediate, sharp emissions reduction is required of all market sectors and industries.[1] Publicly traded corporations both contribute emissions that augment climate change and are subject to multiple risks created by climate change. Lack of comprehensive efforts to curtail emissions threatens investor value, particularly for diversified holders, for whom climate change poses an undiversifiable and unhedgeable risk.[2]

In response to this systemic risk, more than 6,000 companies, representing a broad range of industries, have set or committed to set science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets covering their Scopes 1 – 3 emissions aligned with a 1.5 degrees Celsius scenario with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). SBTi provides third-party validation of corporate targets.

IBM has declined to set comparably comprehensive targets or seek third-party validation for its existing targets, raising concerns about the credibility of its commitments. Rather, it has adopted a 2030 net zero target narrowly focused on its operational emissions and a single category of Scope 3 emissions. Of the emissions IBM discloses for 2022, its target covers only half of its carbon footprint. 

Meanwhile, Company peers Accenture, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Salesforce, and SAP have set or committed to set near-term science-based 1.5 degree Celsius-aligned targets with SBTi inclusive of their full Scopes 1 – 3 emissions. Additionally, Accenture, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Microsoft, have committed to set ambitious long-term 1.5 degree Celsius-aligned net-zero by 2050 targets, vetted by SBTi.

IBM’s opposition to setting a third party verified by a third party creates business and reputational risks. For example, the Company markets and sells end-to-end sustainability solutions including cloud-based software, Envizi ESG Suite, which helps customers calculate and report Scope 3 emissions, and it notes in a Wall Street Journal ad that, “Companies need tools that can help them do detailed carbon accounting…”[3] 

However, in its recent CDP climate report, IBM chooses not to disclose a number of Scope 3 emissions categories indicating that there is no reliable data for reporting the emissions, controverting its stated capabilities of providing detailed carbon accounting. Further, IBM describes Envizi as valuable for customers reporting greenhouse gas emissions data to CDP, or who have committed to the SBTi. Regrettably, IBM disparages SBTi in its 2022 CDP climate report as “a self-appointed arbiter for judging a company’s goals,” undermining the value of its own services.

Resolved: Shareholders request that IBM adopt independently verified short-, medium- and long-term science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, inclusive of emissions from its full value chain, in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

[1]https://report.ipcc.ch/ar6wg3/pdf/IPCC_AR6_WGIII_FinalDraft_FullReport.pdf  

[2]https://www.unepfi.org/fileadmin/documents/universal_ownership_full.pdf. Pg4.

[3] https://partners.wsj.com/ibm/tackling-tough-business-challenges-together/making-sustainability-goals-achievable-with-the-help-of-data/