Latest Carbon Performance data for chemical producers now available

Companies in the chemicals sector are major greenhouse gas emitters and yet they also play a critical role in the low-carbon transition by providing technologies and materials needed to decarbonise other parts of the economy. The sector is one of the world’s largest manufacturing industries by market capitalisation. 

 

As the largest industrial consumer of fossil fuels, the sector plays a major role in global emissions. According to the International Energy Agency, in 2024 the sector accounted for approximately 1.4 gigatonnes of direct carbon dioxide emissions annually, equivalent to 3.7% of the global total. This combination of broad economic influence and high emissions exposes the sector to transition risk and makes it a priority for credible decarbonisation pathways. Therefore, the chemicals sector is of considerable importance to both investors and efforts to achieve global climate goals. 

 

Today we are pleased to announce the first edition of the Carbon Performance assessment of chemical producers: methodology note and publish the Carbon Performance data of 23 chemical companies. As of June 2026, these companies represent a combined market capitalisation of $1.02 trillion [1]. The assessed companies produce a range of chemical products and include some of the sector's highest-emitting producers. The new methodology introduces a novel approach to assessing this highly heterogeneous sector. 

 

With this new chemical industry-specific methodology, the TPI Global Climate Transition Centre (TPI Centre) has now developed 13 sectoral methodologies to assess corporate Carbon Performance. These include the methodologies for electricity utilities, oil and gas producers, high-carbon industrial and transport sectors, among others. The TPI Centre methodology assesses historical and projected greenhouse gas emissions, comparing companies against sector-specific benchmarks to evaluate their alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement.

 

 

The TPI Centre is the academic partner of the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), a global investor-led initiative supported by over 155 asset owners and asset managers. Based at the London School of Economics and Political Science, it is an independent and authoritative source of research and data on the progress being made by corporate and sovereign entities in the transition to a low-carbon economy.
 
 

For any questions related to the Carbon Performance data or methodology, please email: tpi.centre@lse.ac.uk.

 

[1] Market capitalisation coverage is calculated for the companies for which this sector represents their primary activity. The calculation can change due to fluctuating corporate valuations, the size of the company universe assessed, or due to company sectoral reclassifications. Companies with a Not Assessed alignment were excluded from the total cement market capitalisation. 

 

Photo by Kai Dahms on Unsplash and iStock