Climate change cost the U.S. over $90 billion in 2023. Last year was the hottest year in recorded history and had a record physical impact. Swiss Re warns that rising temperatures are likely to reduce global wealth significantly by 2050 as crop yields fall, disease spreads, and rising seas consume coastal cities, among a host of other harms.  

Linking greenhouse gas emission reduction targets to executive compensation is one important lever by which CEOs can be incentivized to achieve timely and systematic progress on climate. This second edition of the Pay for Climate Performance report analyzes how effectively 100 of the largest U.S. companies by market capitalization, across 11 sectors of the economy, are currently linking GHG emissions reduction incentives to CEO remuneration. These 100 companies collectively represent a market capitalization of $28 trillion. Building upon the 2022 Pay for Climate Performance report’s analysis of 47 U.S. companies, this edition enables year-over-year comparisons and provides broader coverage across industries.

This report also provides a succinct overview of best practices and investor expectations, evaluates the 100 companies on how they incorporate climate metrics into CEO compensation, and considers the associated investor challenges in assessing climate-related CEO compensation incentives.

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