Corporate buzzword or genuine commitment? A corpus-assisted analysis of corporate ‘net-zero’ pledges by major global corporations

Abstract

In recent years, corporations have faced growing pressure to address their environmental impact, leading many to pledge ‘net-zero’ emissions. This study employs corpus-assisted discourse analysis to examine how Fortune Global 500 companies communicate their net-zero commitments in their sustainability disclosures. Specifically, we conduct frequency, collocate, and concordance analyses to examine how the term net zero is discursively constructed and the solutions proposed to achieve this goal. Our findings support media observations that net zero has rapidly become a central theme in corporate discourse. However, corporate disclosures often frame net zero as a “journey” or an “ambition” and place a stronger focus on setting targets over concrete strategies to reduce emissions. These results raise questions about how credible corporate net-zero commitments are.