Impact Analysis of a National and Corporate Carbon Emission Reduction Target on Renewable Electricity Use: A Review

Abstract

The Paris Agreement requires countries to propose their National Determined Contributions (NDCs) and encourages companies to engage in climate action. This two-stage study explores the mutual influence of national and corporate carbon reduction targets and their effect on the adoption of renewable energy using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The subjects are companies nested in the G20, engaging in the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) or the RE100 initiative. These empirical results show corporate targets are positively correlated to adoption of renewable energy, and development of renewable energy varies by country groups, however; national targets are insignificantly correlated. Our key findings: (1) companies which set SBTs are more willing to use renewable energy to achieve their targets but prefer power purchase agreements (PPAs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs) to investment in renewables. (2) The effect of a national-level target on corporate renewable energy use is non-significant, probably because most multinational corporations are used to compliance and their performances are likely to be better than the national deployment on climate change. We argue that an industrial energy transition to renewables is economically beneficial and needs substantial support in the form of policies or subsidies, instead of just setting targets or attracting publicity.