The Salata Institute at Harvard University launched the Corporate Climate Targets Database on Sept. 21, 2026, providing a free interactive tool to track voluntary climate commitments across nearly 3,000 publicly traded U.S. companies.

The database covers firms in the Russell 3000 Index, representing about 98 percent of the U.S. public equity market by capitalization. It documents targets issued from 2000 through 2024, drawing from sustainability reports, annual reports, 10-K filings, and press releases. Targets are mapped against emissions trends from S&P Global Trucost Environmental data.

Key Findings

Early analysis reveals significant volatility in corporate climate pledges:

• 83 percent of firms with emission reduction targets have changed them at least once before the final target year.
• The total number of companies with climate targets fell from 1,135 in 2023 to 1,056 in 2024, a drop of 80 companies.
• Of target revisions, 15 percent increased ambition, 42 percent set less ambitious targets, and 44 percent maintained ambition.
• In the electric utility sector, only about 45 percent of 24 companies met their pre-2025 emission reduction deadlines.

What the Numbers Show

The data highlights a divergence between commitment volume and execution consistency. While the growth in voluntary targets plateaued over 2022-2023, the high revision rate (83 percent) suggests that initial targets often serve as placeholders rather than fixed operational goals. Furthermore, the decline in total companies holding targets between 2023 and 2024 coincides with a period where fewer than half of electric utilities met their specific plant-level emission cuts, indicating potential pressure on sector-specific compliance.

Database Access and Methodology

Users can compare companies and sectors, examine how targets and emissions have changed over time, and download the underlying data. Joseph Aldy, co-lead and professor at Harvard Kennedy School, noted that the project provides a way to investigate whether voluntary action is associated with real emissions reductions. Michael Toffel, co-lead at Harvard Business School, emphasized that the tool enables visibility across nearly 3,000 companies, including those that rarely make headlines.

The project team plans to update the database annually and publish analyses on target adoption patterns by sector and policy environment.