SBTi consults on draft corporate net zero standard

Target setting body proposes more Scope 3 flexibility and floats removals targets for residual emissions. 

The Science-based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has launched a consultation on a planned update to its corporate net-zero standard.  

Among changes proposed by the global target-setting body is a more flexible approach to value chain Scope 3 emissions. 

The issue has been a sore spot for the body. Last year, it axed 239 companies from its platform for failing to set suitable targets in time. 

At the time, many blamed the delays on the challenging of setting Scope 3 targets that were both practical and aligned with SBTi’s ambitions. 

SBTi’s corporate net-zero standard currently requires at least a 90% reduction in Scope 3 emissions over the long-term, and 67% for near-term goals. 

The new proposal would allow companies to set specific goals around the most relevant sources of value-chain emissions, such as green procurement or revenue generation, instead of having an overarching Scope 3 target.  

SBTi also floats several possibilities to encourage companies to take “responsibility” for their residual emissions – those that remain after all other decarbonisation levers have been pulled. 

Among them is a potential requirement to set targets for using carbon removals. 

SBTi will develop a strategy to help companies shift from the original standard to the new one, it said. 

“We are ready to iterate on this draft – to simplify or refine to make the standard more effective,” SBTi’s interim CEO, Susan Jenny Ehr, wrote on LinkedIn. 

“The feedback we gather from consultations, our expert working groups and pilot testing will inform changes ahead of the standard’s final approval.” 

The consultation on the new standard ends on 1 June.