Once the inventory is secured, companies must mathematically translate that footprint into a brutal reduction commitment using officially sanctioned SBTi methods. Companies absolutely cannot cherry-pick the easiest approach; methods are strictly dictated by sector classification and data availability.
Method B.1: Cross-Sector Absolute Reduction
This is the most devastating and widely applied method. Method B.1 ruthlessly forces a company to slash its absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions regardless of how massive its corporate growth becomes.
For 1.5C alignment, the SBTi mathematically enforces a terrifying 4.2% Linear Annual Reduction (LAR). However, if a company lazily sets a base year after 2020 (e.g., 2022), it is brutally penalized for those "lost" years.
Adjusted Base Year Penalty - Required Reduction
Required Reduction
Total percentage of absolute emissions that must be cut, anchored to 2020 regardless of base year
Linear Annual Reduction
The mandated annual reduction rate, 4.2% for 1.5C alignment
Effective Time Span
Number of years from 2020 to the target year, ignoring the actual base year
Example: Base year 2022, Target year 2030. 4.2% x (2030 - 2020) = 42% absolute reduction required over an agonizingly short 8-year operational window.
Method B.3: Sectoral Decarbonization Approach (SDA)
For incredibly heavy physical industries (cement, steel, power generation), cutting absolute emissions while building global infrastructure is functionally impossible.
The SDA method replaces absolute cuts with fierce intensity convergence. It dictates that every massive steel company on earth must ruthlessly converge on a shared, ultra-low carbon intensity target (e.g., tonnes of CO2 per tonne of steel) by 2050. It essentially tells every competitor in the industry they must finish the marathon at the exact same moment, regardless of how dirty they started.
SDA is absolutely forbidden for standard service or tech companies. If the SBTi has not published a hyper-specific sectoral pathway for your industry, you must legally default to the brutal absolute cuts of Method B.1.
Method B.4: Renewable Electricity Target
As a powerful alternative for covering Scope 2 purchased electricity, Method B.4 demands massive, verifiable physical procurement of highly credible clean power. The thresholds are completely fixed:
- 80% renewable electricity by 2025.
- 100% renewable electricity rigidly maintained by 2030.
Methods B.5 and B.6: Scope 3 Intensity
Because absolute data across sprawling global supply chains is notoriously garbage, the SBTi permits intensity metrics for Scope 3 emissions.
- Method B.5: Physical intensity (e.g., CO2 per tonne of product).
- Method B.6: Economic intensity (e.g., CO2 per million dollars revenue).
Both methods enforce a brutal minimum requirement: a 7% compound annual reduction.
While Scope 1 and 2 absolute targets demand 4.2% linear reductions (1.5C aligned), Scope 3 intensity demands 7% compound reductions (well-below 2C aligned). The math differs wildly, but the 7% threshold serves as a punishing floor to prevent companies from masking infinite supply chain growth behind trivial efficiency gains.
Method B.7: Supplier Engagement (Scope 3)
Instead of counting microscopic supplier tonnes, Method B.7 allows the massive corporate buyer to weaponize its supply chain contracts. The targeted outcome is entirely focused on driving massive uptake of SBTi targets by the suppliers themselves.
For example, a company can mandate that 67% of its incredibly raw material suppliers (by spend) must officially secure their own independent SBTs. This aggressively scales global decarbonization by violently forcing thousands of smaller factories to join the SBTi framework.
Key Takeaways
- 1Method B.1 (cross-sector absolute reduction) is the default and most widely applied method, enforcing 4.2% linear annual reduction for 1.5C alignment
- 2If the base year is after 2020, the required reduction is calculated from 2020 anyway - penalizing companies for delayed action
- 3Method B.3 (Sectoral Decarbonization Approach) uses intensity convergence for heavy industries like steel, cement, and power - it is forbidden for service or tech companies
- 4Method B.4 (renewable electricity) offers a Scope 2 alternative: 80% by 2025 and 100% by 2030
- 5Scope 3 intensity methods (B.5 and B.6) require a minimum 7% compound annual reduction
- 6Method B.7 (supplier engagement) allows companies to drive decarbonization by requiring suppliers to set their own SBTi targets