In what seems like a rapid shift of gears, corporations are finally jumping into action on climate change.

Or that’s what they’d like us to believe.

Many of the world’s biggest and most polluting corporations have recently promised to stop adding carbon to the atmosphere, saying that they’ll reach net-zero emissions in the next few decades. These sweeping pledges envision a world where we can have it all: economic growth and global trade without the warming that usually comes with that.

But while saving the planet demands something more ambitious than good old incremental change, these corporate fantasies of the future don’t stand up to scrutiny.

In the Opinion video above, we expose three major flaws in net-zero pledges that make them a dangerous distraction from the crisis at hand.

Agnes Walton (@AgnesBridge) is a producer for Opinion video. Kristopher Knight (@K_Knight) is an editor and filmmaker.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips. And here’s our email: letters@nytimes.com.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook, Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram.