The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), one of the leading organizations focused on aligning corporate environmental sustainability actions with global goals to limit climate change, announced a series of actions as part of its “major expansion operation”, including plans to develop sectoral standards for climate targets for several high-impact sectors.
The organization said its expansion process aims to meet growing demand for corporate decarbonization standards and target validation services, with SBTi revealing that the number of companies with science-based validated climate targets doubled last year, reaching 4,204 in at the end of 2023, compared to 2,079 in 2022.
Founded in 2015, SBTi was formed as a collaboration between CDP, the World Resources Institute (WRI), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), with the aim of establishing environmental goals based on science. definition as a standard corporate practice. The organizations' primary functions include defining and promoting best practices in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science, providing technical assistance to companies that set science-based targets, and providing companies with independent assessment and validation of their emissions targets. emissions reduction. .
In September 2023, SBTi announced the separation of its standards-setting and validation activities into separate entities, as well as a series of governance changes, including the organization's incorporation in the United Kingdom and establishment as independent of its founding organizations, along with plans to increase its target validation capacity in order to meet significant growth in demand.
The organization said it has now incorporated a subsidiary to house its target validation services, and that SBTi has been granted charitable status in the UK, allowing it to receive $18 million in funding from the IKEA Foundation, combining funds pledged and received. from its other main backer, the Bezos Earth Fund.
Going forward, SBTi said it is prioritizing the development of specific standards for high-impact sectors, including oil and gas, electric utilities, automotive, chemicals, insurance and apparel, and that it will pilot a hybrid model, in partnership with external organizations. , for the development of sector-specific standards, noting the potential to accelerate the number of sectors with standards developed from 2025 onwards.
The SBTi also said it will review its corporate net zero standard this year for possible updates in 2025, and will also develop a net zero standard for financial institutions.
Luiz Amaral, CEO of SBTi, said:
“We would like to extend our gratitude to the IKEA Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund and all of our funders for their valuable contribution, supporting SBTi in pursuing its mission and building and expanding our organization. We promised to prepare SBTi for the next phase of growth and we are delivering on this, once again doubling the number of companies validated in a single year, whilst establishing our independence and strengthening our governance.”
