The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has released Version 2.0 of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard, introducing a more flexible framework designed to help companies accelerate climate action while maintaining alignment with scientific principles.
The updated standard moves away from a one-size-fits-all approach, providing companies with a broader range of target-setting options that reflect different business realities and transition pathways.
According to the SBTi, the framework is intended to support businesses in embedding net-zero strategies into operations, value chains and investment decisions while improving resilience and competitiveness.
A central feature of the new standard is a stronger focus on implementation. The framework emphasizes that setting targets is only the beginning of the net-zero journey and introduces enhanced expectations around transparency, progress reporting and continuous improvement.
Greater flexibility with continued emphasis on emissions reductions
The revised standard maintains direct emissions reductions as the primary pathway to net-zero while encouraging companies to deploy additional measures where decarbonization remains difficult.
It also introduces a “best efforts” approach to target achievement, acknowledging that external factors may affect progress provided companies remain transparent about barriers and continue taking all reasonable actions to meet their goals.
Another notable addition is a new mechanism that recognizes companies taking voluntary action to address the impact of ongoing emissions. Over time, larger companies will be expected to assume increasing responsibility for residual emissions as part of their net-zero transition plans.
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The Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 builds on more than a decade of experience supporting over 11,000 companies in setting science-based climate targets. The updated framework was developed through public consultations, pilot testing and expert working groups before receiving approval from the SBTi’s independent Technical Council and Board of Trustees.
The SBTi said the new standard aims to help more companies translate climate commitments into measurable action and accelerate progress toward net-zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.
“We are at a critical moment for climate action: companies have told us that they need a partner that can help foster implementation and that’s what the Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 is designed to do,” said CEO David Kennedy.
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The announcement has already sparked positive reactions in the carbon removal industry, with leading organizations in the field welcoming the updated framework.
Christoph Gebald, CEO and Co-Founder of Direct Air Capture (DAC) heavyweight Climeworks, defined it as “a more pragmatic and structured approach to carbon removals”. “Together with ISO alignment, this provides much-needed clarity for companies on how to integrate carbon removals into their strategies, while the new concept of shared responsibility for Scope 3 removals helps unlock broader value chain action,” he said.
“The new Corporate Net-Zero Standard provides important clarity for companies looking to invest in carbon removal and helps to justify both near-term corporate investments and longer-term procurement agreements,” commented Ben Rubin*, Executive Director of the Carbon Business Council. “Governments can complement this voluntary momentum through procurement programs, investment incentives, and the integration of carbon removal into compliance markets, creating the long-term certainty the industry needs to scale,” he said.
However, the updated Net-Zero Standard has also prompted skepticism, with Tommy Ricketts, CEO of BeZero Carbon – one of the world’s leading carbon credit ratings agencies – questioning the SBTi’s authority to “defining how to address approximately 25% of global emissions.”
“Either we need an approach that empowers corporates to take voluntary action, or policy-makers need to mandate it. SBTi’s guidance does neither,” he said.
*Ben Rubin is also the publisher of the Carbon Herald
