DAI Joins Race to Zero Campaign, Accelerating Company’s Trajectory to Net Zero

October 28, 2021

In March, DAI signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) as part of a company-wide effort to reduce corporate greenhouse gas emissions and curb climate impact—all with an eye to supporting the global commitment agreed in Paris to reach Net Zero by 2050.

Our pledge in March committed DAI to emissions reduction targets that, if adopted by industry around the world, would correspond to stabilizing global temperatures at around 2°C above pre-industrial levels. But DAI has now signed on to the Race to Zero campaign, which increases our ambition and calls on the company to achieve a 50 percent reduction across all three scopes in its emissions by 2030.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report this summer signalled code red when it comes to climate change,” said Donald Lunan, Global Director of DAI’s Climate Business. “It underscored the need for faster and more ambitious decarbonisation plans.”

Race To Zero is a global initiative that brings together businesses, cities, regions, and investors to support what the campaign calls “a healthy, resilient, zero carbon recovery that prevents future threats, creates decent jobs, and unlocks inclusive, sustainable growth.” Currently, the campaign represents 733 cities, 31 regions, more than 3,000 businesses, and 173 large investors—all committed to achieving net zero by 2050.

Specifically, DAI has signed the campaign’s Business Ambition for 1.5 Letter, which commits signatories to a net-zero target of emissions cuts in line with a 1.5°C future.

Led by Net Zero Champion Felicity Buckle, DAI’s newly established Net Zero Taskforce will help the company measure and monitor its emissions, set science-based targets, and develop the appropriate tools and processes to meet them.

“Our enhanced commitment to targets in line with 1.5°C reflects the growing interest among our employee-owners, project partners, and clients alike to account for our emissions and make positive changes to cut them. Doing the work to shrink our carbon footprint will give us a first-hand understanding of the challenges facing companies around the world and provide new opportunities to innovate and enhance our delivery of good development results,” Buckle said.