SBTi launches consultation on Corporate Net Zero Standard revision

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is calling for stakeholder feedback on the revision of its flagship Corporate Net Zero Standard – used by companies worldwide to set emissions reduction targets.

As part of its efforts to ensure the new standard integrates extensive input from businesses and other stakeholders, SBTi is launching expert working groups to consult on five key topics, including Scope 2, Scope 3, carbon removals and offsetting, mitigation beyond the value chain, and data quality and assurance.

Experts from business, civil society and academia are invited to apply to take part in the working groups by completing this form by February 28, 2025.

In addition, a first public consultation will begin “no earlier than March 2025”, which is when SBTi plans to release a first draft of the revised standard, and will last a minimum of 60 days. The process will also include pilot testing to ensure that the revision works and accelerates climate action, and a second consultation later this year.

Tracy Wyman, Chief Impact Officer at SBTi said: “Reaching net-zero is never going to be straightforward. But the guidance to get businesses there should be. The additional consultations announced today will support the development of a revised Corporate Net-Zero Standard that works for businesses and accelerates climate action. We encourage all interested stakeholders to engage with the revision process through these feedback mechanisms and welcome their input to shape the revised Corporate Net-Zero Standard.”

Question marks around Scope 3 and carbon offsetting

The revised standard aims to provide companies setting climate targets through SBTi with more clarity on its interoperability with other guidelines, carbon offsetting, Scope 3 emissions, progress monitoring and categorisation.

One of the most contentious issues SBTi will have to clarify is around the use of carbon offsets or removals to meet Scope 3 emissions reduction targets. The current standard states that companies are only allowed to offset their “residual emissions” after reducing them by at least 90%. 

But a statement published by the SBTi board of trustees last year suggested that the revised standard might open the door for the offsetting of a higher percentage of Scope 3 emissions, sending sustainability practitioners into a heated debate around climate ambition and the role of the voluntary carbon market.

Preliminary findings of SBTi’s market research, released in July last year, were largely inconclusive, so the question around Scope 3 targets and carbon offsetting remains open. As part of its work to improve value chain decarbonisation, the initiative says it is “considering a wider set of metrics, methods and tools” and could introduce “interim removal targets” on the way to net zero.

“When we launched our first Corporate Net-Zero Standard in 2021, there was no consistent definition of net-zero in corporate climate target-setting. We have come a long way since then – today more than 1,500 businesses have net-zero aligned targets. The feedback we have gathered since the release of the first version of the Standard has been invaluable in helping us identify opportunities to strengthen it and make it more practical and effective in driving science-based climate action,” added Alberto Carillo Pineda, Chief Technical Officer at SBTi.