The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) validates corporate emissions-reduction targets against what climate science requires for a 1.5°C pathway. SBTi validation has become the de facto credibility standard for corporate climate commitments — demanded by investors, embedded in customer scorecards, and increasingly cascaded contractually through supply chains.
Why SBTi matters now.
Climate pledges without independent validation now read as greenwash — while your largest customers embed SBTi status in scorecards and your competitors' validated targets sit on the public SBTi dashboard next to your absence.
What it changes commercially.
Validation converts a claim into an asset: scorecard points with enterprise customers, credibility with investors who screen on the SBTi dashboard, internal discipline that forces the baseline and Scope 3 work to be real, and a target architecture the CFO has costed rather than inherited from a press release.
The standards we build to.
How the engagement runs.
- 01 — QA the baselineInventory completeness and base-year conformance before exposure to validation.
- 02 — Model the optionsTarget pathways with their cost, Scope 3 and business implications made explicit.
- 03 — ValidateSubmission, evidence and SBTi dialogue managed to first-pass approval.
- 04 — DeliverTargets connected to the abatement roadmap, governance and disclosure cycle.
What you take away.
- Baseline quality assuranceThe inventory checked against SBTi base-year requirements before anything is submitted.
- Target modellingNear-term and net-zero target options modelled with business implications.
- Submission & validation managementForms, evidence and SBTi dialogue run end to end.
- Scope 3 strategyThe supplier and product levers that make the 67–90% requirements achievable.
- Delivery linkageTargets wired into the decarbonisation roadmap, not announced and orphaned.
What success looks like.
- Validated targets on the public SBTi dashboard
- First-pass validation without resubmission cycles
- A Scope 3 strategy that makes the thresholds achievable
- Commitments the business has actually costed
Industries that use this most.
validation is the goal — resubmission cycles cost quarters, and announcements made before validation cost credibility.
SBTi: the questions buyers ask first.
Near-term targets cover 5–10 years and drive immediate reductions (typically ~4.2%/year for 1.5°C alignment on Scopes 1–2). Net-zero targets commit to ~90% absolute reduction by 2050 with residual emissions neutralised by permanent removals. SBTi validates both under its Corporate Net-Zero Standard.
If Scope 3 is 40% or more of your total — true for most companies — near-term targets must cover at least two-thirds of it, and net-zero targets 90%. This is where target-setting becomes strategy: supplier engagement, product design and business-model questions, not arithmetic.
No — offsets do not count toward SBTi reduction targets. Permanent removals play a role only in neutralising the final ~10% residual at net-zero. Credits can be used for contribution claims beyond the value chain, but they never substitute for reduction.
Preparation typically takes 2–4 months (baseline QA, modelling, internal approval), and SBTi's validation queue adds further months depending on service level. Companies announcing targets before validation risk public correction — sequencing matters.
SBTi requires progress disclosure and recalculation under significant changes; persistent failure leads to removal from the dashboard — a visible credibility event. The defence is set targets you have modelled the cost of delivering, which is exactly what the validation process should force.
Let's talk about your business — before we talk about sustainability.
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