Fortune 500 Climate Tracker

🌍 Fortune 500 Climate Tracker

we’re halfway through the decade, what did the fortune 500 get done?

are they even close to their climate goals? I vibe coded a tracking system that monitors the environmental commitments and progress of Fortune 500 companies. This project analyzes real climate data from 50 major corporations across 10 sectors (power law, 57 companies are responsible for 80% of greenhouse gas emissions).

Check it out here: climate.vincentwi.com

What it tracks

The climate tracker monitors several key metrics:

  • Emissions Progress: How companies are performing against their carbon reduction targets
  • Renewable Energy: Progress toward 100% renewable energy goals
  • Science-Based Targets: Validation of targets aligned with climate science
  • Data Quality: Assessment of data reliability from 15+ sources

Key findings

From analyzing the dataset:

  • Average progress: 64.8% toward emissions targets
  • Top performer: Microsoft (85.8% progress toward net-zero by 2030)
  • Renewable leaders: Technology sector leads with 79.5% average renewable energy
  • SBTi adoption: 60% of tracked companies have science-based targets

Technical implementation

Built with:
- Data processing: Python, pandas for handling 50 companies × 25+ metrics
- Visualization: Plotly for interactive charts and dashboards
- Data sources: CDP, SBTi, RE100, MSCI ESG, company reports
- Interface: Streamlit for the dashboard, Flask integration for web

Sector breakdown

Technology companies lead in climate action:
- Microsoft: 85.8% progress (carbon negative by 2030)
- Meta: 85.2% progress
- Salesforce: 84.9% progress

Energy sector shows mixed results:
- Some traditional energy companies making significant investments
- Others lagging behind on renewable transition

Data sources

The tracker aggregates data from premium sources:
- Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)
- Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
- RE100 renewable energy initiative
- MSCI ESG ratings
- Bloomberg ESG data
- Company sustainability reports

Interactive features

The full tracker includes:
- Company-specific dashboards
- Sector comparison tools
- Progress trend analysis
- Data quality indicators
- JSON API for developers

Why this matters

Corporate climate commitments are crucial for meeting global climate goals. This tracker provides transparency and accountability, helping:

  • Investors make informed ESG decisions
  • Consumers understand company environmental impact
  • Policymakers track private sector progress
  • Companies benchmark against peers

Future development

Potential enhancements:
- Real-time data updates via APIs
- Scope 3 emissions tracking
- Supply chain impact analysis
- AI-powered progress predictions

The climate tracker demonstrates how data visualization can make complex environmental information accessible and actionable.

This project showcases the intersection of data science, environmental policy, and web development - turning corporate climate data into meaningful insights.