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Posted: March 20, 2025
The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has proposed new rules to enhance corporate climate commitments while maintaining limits on carbon offsets. The updates aim to make emissions reduction targets more accessible to smaller businesses and emerging markets. Despite growing political and legal pressures, SBTi remains firm on high-quality, science-based climate action.
The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a key organization assessing corporate climate commitments, has unveiled new rules to help companies set more robust emissions-reduction strategies. However, it remains steadfast in its stance against expanding the use of carbon credits beyond residual emissions. This decision comes after last year’s heated debate, where critics argued that restricting offsets was stalling billions in investment for carbon removal projects.
While companies can still offset the small portion of emissions left after making their best reduction efforts, SBTi stops short of endorsing a broader reliance on offsets. It does, however, encourage businesses to invest in carbon credits that are not directly tied to their supply chains, contributing to wider climate goals. Supporters of offsets claim they are crucial for funding initiatives like reforestation, while skeptics point to challenges in accurately measuring their impact, with some projects failing to deliver the promised environmental benefits.
The new proposal also introduces flexible approaches for tackling corporate emissions reduction, particularly Scope 3 emissions, which stem from supply chains. Companies can now consider procurement strategies, prioritize the most carbon-intensive activities, and, for smaller firms, set voluntary targets. These updates arrive at a time when corporate climate ambitions, especially in the U.S., are facing political and legal headwinds. Despite this, SBTi reports strong momentum, with nearly half of G7-listed companies already adopting validated science-based targets, and hopes the revised rules will make participation more accessible for businesses worldwide.
