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🎯 Science-Based Targets (SBTi)
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Introduction to Science-Based TargetsLesson 1 of 34 min readNet-Zero Standard V1.3, Section 1

What Are Science-Based Targets?

What Are Science-Based Targets?

What you will learn in this lesson

  • Why the 1.5C limit matters and what the IPCC explicitly says about it
  • What makes a target strictly "science-based" rather than just a vague pledge
  • Who can set science-based targets and how many companies presently have them
  • What science-based targets are absolutely NOT

The Climate Context: Why 1.5C Matters

The 2015 Paris Agreement committed nations to limiting global temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. This 1.5C figure is not arbitrary. It represents the absolute threshold below which scientists believe catastrophic and irreversible climate impacts can be avoided.

The IPCC's Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C (SR15) in 2018 made these stakes desperately concrete. The report aggressively proved that the difference between 1.5C and 2C involves substantially worse outcomes for extreme weather, food security, and biodiversity. To limit warming to 1.5C, global net CO2 emissions must violently reach zero around 2050.

Think of the global carbon budget exactly like a fuel tank. The atmosphere can absorb only roughly 500 gigatonnes of CO2 from 2020 onward before temperatures irreversibly exceed 1.5C. Every tonne emitted permanently draws down that budget. Companies setting science-based targets are mathematically committing to use solely their fair share of whatever remains.

The Corporate Climate Action Problem

Corporate climate pledges proliferated massively after the Paris Agreement. While this appears positive, a terrifying problem emerged: not all net-zero targets are equal.

Without a rigid technical definition, corporate net-zero targets became incredibly inconsistent. One company might plan a meager 20% reduction while masking the rest with cheap carbon offsets. Another might selectively ignore massive portions of its supply chain. This chaos completely neutered the collective climate impact of these pledges. Business leaders desperately required a ruthless, science-based framework. The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) specifically launched to solve this exact crisis.

What Is a Science-Based Target?

A science-based target is a greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target perfectly mathematically aligned with the decarbonization required to limit global warming to 1.5C.

Under the incredibly strict SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard, reaching net-zero means executing two mandatory actions:

  1. Reduce Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions to near-zero levels.
  2. Permanently neutralize any absolute final residual emissions using verified carbon removals.

A target is strictly "science-based" when its reduction percentage is forcibly derived from a global carbon budget pathway. Companies absolutely do not choose their reduction rate; the scientific pathway dictates it.

What Science-Based Targets Are NOT

Understanding what incredibly strict SBTs actually require means understanding what they are strictly not:

  • They are NOT voluntary pledges. Simply announcing "we will be carbon neutral by 2040" is just a marketing pledge. It is not an SBT until its mathematical ambition is independently validated.
  • They are NOT achieved through carbon offsets. Carbon credits absolutely do not count toward emission reductions. They only neutralize absolute residual emissions after long-term targets have been completely achieved.
  • They are NOT renewable energy claims alone. Procuring 100% renewable electricity is excellent but only addresses Scope 2. An SBT aggressively targets all scopes.
  • They are NOT "avoided emissions." Products that "avoid" emissions for customers (like selling electric vehicles) occur outside the company's inventory and legally cannot count toward SBTi targets.

Pledge vs. SBT Company A happily announces: "We will be net-zero by 2050" and plans to offset 70% of its emissions using forestry credits. This is a generic marketing pledge.

Company B formally submits targets to the SBTi. It legally commits to absolute 50% reductions in Scope 1 and 2 by 2030, and a 40% reduction in Scope 3. The SBTi brutally audits and validates these numbers against 1.5C pathways. Company B now possesses a verified science-based target.

Who Sets Science-Based Targets?

The SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard targets global companies and financial institutions.

  • Large companies undergo the brutal full validation route, submitting vast technical documentation to the SBTi Validation Portal.
  • Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) access a highly streamlined route, bypassing complex calculations to immediately select predefined targets.
  • Financial Institutions utilize a totally separate standard specifically engineered to tackle financed emissions within their investment portfolios.

The Scale of Adoption

The SBTi launched in 2015 as a powerhouse partnership between CDP, the UN Global Compact, the We Mean Business Coalition, WRI, and WWF. It operates formally as a UK charity.

Corporate adoption has exploded. By the mid-2020s, over 10,000 visionary companies had committed to or achieved approved targets. The foundational Corporate Net-Zero Standard launched in October 2021, with Version 1.3 launching in September 2025 to tighten enforcement.

Near-term emissions reductions are absolutely not interchangeable with long-term ones. Every single tonne of CO2 emitted before 2030 permanently vaporizes the carbon budget available for the 2040s. A company attempting to delay action until 2040 would still cumulatively emit massively more carbon than a company aggressively reducing today. This mathematical reality forces the SBTi to mandate incredibly aggressive near-term (5-10 year) targets alongside long-term 2050 goals.

Key Takeaways

  • 1A science-based target is a GHG reduction target mathematically derived from 1.5C climate pathways - not chosen by the company
  • 2The SBTi requires both deep emission reductions (to near-zero) and permanent carbon removal for any residual emissions - offsets alone do not qualify
  • 3Corporate net-zero pledges without independent SBTi validation are marketing claims, not science-based commitments
  • 4Over 10,000 companies have committed to or achieved SBTi-approved targets since the initiative launched in 2015
  • 5Near-term targets (5-10 years) are critical because every tonne emitted today permanently depletes the finite global carbon budget

Knowledge Check

1.Which IPCC report, published in 2018, established that global net CO₂ emissions must reach zero around 2050 to limit warming to 1.5C?

2.A company publicly announces it will be 'net zero by 2040' and plans to offset 60% of remaining emissions using forestry credits purchased on the voluntary market. Under SBTi definitions, which statement best describes this commitment?

3.Which of the following is NOT listed as a partner organization that facilitated the SBTi's growth and development?

4.Which type of company uses the SME Streamlined Target Validation Route?

5.According to the SBTi definition, when can a company claim to have reached net-zero?

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