The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) drives ambitious climate action in the private sector by enabling organizations to set science-based emissions reduction targets. The organization helps to show businesses how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

SBTi provides companies with a clearly-defined path to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement goals. More than 4,000 businesses around the world are already working with the organization. (See the story on Safilo Group’s involvement in SBTi in this issue of Going Green.)

In January of this year SBTi reported that it had gained non-profit status. Several months after the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) announced its de-merger from its partner organizations, it was granted charitable status by the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Previously a collaborative initiative between CDP, We Mean Business Coalition, World Resources Institute (WRI), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the UN Global Compact, the SBTi now takes its place as an independent organization alongside its partners to build out its critical role in the corporate climate ecosystem.

● 4,204 companies validated by the SBTi by end of 2023.
● Sector-specific standards for high-emitting sectors to be developed.
● An independent Validation Council will be formed for target validations.

 
 
The number of companies and financial institutions setting GHG reduction targets and having them validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) doubled in 2023 (up from 2,079 in 2022). This extraordinary demand for corporate decarbonization standards and target validation services has prompted a major scale-up operation to quickly develop a broader range of trusted, credible emissions reduction standards and increase capacity for validating companies’ targets, while aiming for the highest level of service excellence for companies and financial institutions.

Many of the companies who are part of SBTi have posted their sustainability journeys in science-based targets to the organization’s website here.

The group provides many resources, definitions and other guidance on its website. A newsletter is available for signup here.