SBTi Broadens Focus from Climate Target Setting to Implementation
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), one of the key organizations focused on aligning corporate environmental sustainability action with the global goals of limiting climate change, announced today the launch of its new five-year strategy, marking a significant expansion in focus for the organization from target-setting and validation to supporting companies in the implementation of their climate goals.
Key elements of the SBTi’s new 2026 – 2030 strategy include moving towards a more tailored target-setting approaches with a focus on what companies can influence, a new “pivot toward implementation,” addressing fragmentation in the climate standards ecosystem, and expanding its coverage in high-emitting sectors and regions.
The SBTi was founded in 2015 with the goal to establish science-based environmental target setting as a standard corporate practice. The organizations’ key functions include defining and promoting best practice in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science, providing technical assistance to companies who set science-based targets, and providing companies with independent assessment and validation of their emissions reduction targets. The organization published its flagship cross-sector Corporate Net-Zero Standard in 2021, and is currently in the process of developing an update to the standard, Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.
The SBTi appointed former UK Committee on Climate Change (CCC) Chief Executive David Kennedy as its new CEO last year, and the organization recently announced that the number of companies with validated science-based climate targets has increased to more than 10,000.
According to the SBTi, the launch of the new strategy follows feedback from companies indicating demand for more actionable guidance to translate climate ambition into action, as well as clearer pathways and better data.
In a post announcing the new strategy, SBTi said:
“As corporate climate ambition scales, the challenge is evolving—from setting targets to delivering them. For business leaders, the question is no longer whether to act, but how to deliver in a way that manages transition risk, maintains competitiveness, and creates long-term business value.”
The organization outlined four “major shifts” in its new strategy, including a focus on “action-focused standards,” implementation, addressing fragmentation, and expanding coverage.
In its standard-setting activities, SBTi said that it will move from its current generalized approach to more tailored standards aimed at enabling companies to adopt approaches aligned to their sectors, geographies and operating contexts.
To increase its focus on implementation, SBTi said that its services will emphasize data transparency and system-level assessment of progress and challenges, enabling companies to assess how they compare with peers, and where to focus action.
In its efforts to address fragmentation, the new strategy includes an emphasis on strengthening partnerships with other organizations and standard-setters to reduce fragmentation, duplication, and burden for companies.
The new strategy also includes a focus on expanding the SBTi’s coverage to maximize impact by growing its network in high-emitting sectors and regions.
Ani Dasgupta, President & CEO of WRI – one of the founding organizations behind SBTi – said:
“The SBTi’s strategy marks an important pivot from climate ambition to implementation, recognizing and collectively addressing the systemic barriers that make transition difficult. The companies that lead in this next phase will help drive system-level solutions – turning climate action from a commitment into a source of long-term competitiveness and growth. SBTi will be an active member of the ecosystem, partnering to reinforce alignment and support more effective corporate action.”