Get Started With Science-Based Targets

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

Explain science-based targets.
Describe the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
List the steps to set targets in Net Zero Cloud.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you complete the following.

Complete the Net Zero Cloud Basics module to understand the benefits of using Net Zero Cloud for your business, and to familiarize yourself with the key capabilities and terms.
Complete the Carbon Accounting for Assets in Net Zero Cloud and Carbon Accounting for Scope 3 with Net Zero Cloud modules to understand how you can create carbon footprint records in Net Zero Cloud.

Emissions Reduction: How Much Is Enough?

Sam Rajan is the Chief Sustainability Officer of Northern Trail Outfitters (NTO), a (fictional) leading retail brand known for its outdoor and recreational gear and apparel.

Sam Rajan, chief sustainability officer at NTO.

With the help of his Salesforce admin, Sam set up Net Zero Cloud. He calculated the company’s total carbon footprint using the out-of-the-box computation capabilities of the application. He now faces the million-dollar question: “How much and how quickly can NTO reduce our greenhouse gas emissions?”

Sam isn’t sure. He’s committed to doing what’s right, not what’s easy. He wants to adopt a systematic approach that’s based on scientific methods. This is where the science-based targets come into play.

The Whats and Whys of Science-Based Targets

Science-based targets (SBTs) are goals or objectives that a company sets to make a path to clearly defined greenhouse gas emissions reductions. SBTs are in line with the scale of reductions that the latest climate science deems necessary to keep global warming below 1.5°C.

Setting SBTs isn’t based on how much GHG emissions a company can reduce. It rather focuses on how much a company must reduce to do their part in the collective effort toward achieving a sustainable planet.

Apart from doing its part to help mitigate the effects of climate change, setting SBTs makes business sense to NTO for a variety of reasons. Sam explores some of the benefits.

Brand recognition: Setting SBTs demonstrates a company’s high level of corporate credibility, responsibility, and long-term thinking, which resonates with the increasing number of sustainability-conscious investors and consumers.
Preparedness for regulations: Setting SBTs can possibly help future-proof a company to adhere to regulations that governments might impose to curb emissions-intensive activities.
Innovation and competitiveness: Necessity is the mother of invention. By creating approaches to achieve a low-carbon economy, a company devises innovative and effective methods to solve existing problems. With increased innovation, the company stays ahead of the competition.
Future profits: Aggressive SBTs with innovative solutions drive energy cost reductions, and help a company find efficiencies throughout its operations.

Graphic representing main benefits of science-based targets.

Know the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a coalition between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for Nature.

The main objective of the initiative is to make setting SBTs a standard business practice. By doing so, companies can create a thriving economy in harmony with the natural world.

The SBTi leads the Business Ambition for 1.5 degree Celsius campaign, which calls for companies to set carbon reduction targets in line with a 1.5°C future. The goal is to reduce global GHG emissions by 50% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by no later than 2050.

Here are some of the aims of the SBTi.

Define and promote best practices in developing SBTs that are in line with climate science.
Provide technical assistance and expert resources to companies who commit to climate action.
Offer independent validation of targets.

Determining SBTs is complex. The SBTi has developed methods to derive SBTs after conducting in-depth research and analysis, and after consulting scientists and sustainability experts across sectors. The SBTi has published a set of criteria and recommendations along with a clearly defined process for setting SBTs. The initiative provides tools and methods to assist companies that want to sign up.

The SBTi is the gold standard for setting science-based targets that are aligned with climate science. Targets that are validated by the SBTi demonstrate to your stakeholders that you’ve made a credible and ambitious commitment to reducing your emissions.

Net Zero Cloud supports and aligns with the SBTi. If you’re wondering whether you can use Net Zero Cloud with other programs or initiatives, such as the Climate Pledge, then the answer is yes. Net Zero Cloud’s target-setting functionality is customizable and lets you select the program that you want to commit to.

The SBTi has defined the following steps to set targets.

Commit: Create a commitment letter as per the SBTi standard to establish your intent toward climate action, and submit it to the SBTi.
Develop: Prepare and set SBTs in line with the SBTi criteria.
Submit: Submit the targets to the SBTi for validation.
Communicate: Share your commitment and targets with your stakeholders.
Disclose: Track and publicly report your total emissions annually.

Sam is convinced that setting SBTs using the SBTi framework is the way forward. He’s all set to embark on his target setting journey for NTO with Net Zero Cloud.

A Sneak Peek into Target Setting with Net Zero Cloud

Managing the extensive process to complete the SBTi's requirements for setting targets can be challenging and time consuming. Working with complex formulas that span across multiple spreadsheets and documents can be a daunting task.

Net Zero Cloud simplifies this for you. You can easily create your company’s targets aligned with SBTi’s framework and manage them all in one place.

Setting SBTs in Net Zero Cloud is a three-step process, and the application guides you through these steps.

Create Commitments: This step is in line with the SBTi’s Commit step.
Set Emissions Inventory: An annual emissions inventory is a prerequisite for setting targets.
Set Targets: This step is in line with the SBTi’s Develop step.

When Sam opens Science-Based Targets in the Net Zero Cloud app, the landing page shows the steps of the target setting process. The Emissions Reduction Commitments list view on the Create Emissions Reduction Commitments page displays all the company’s commitments. Since Sam hasn’t created any commitments yet, it’s blank.

The landing page of Science-Based Targets.

In this unit, Sam discovered science-based targets, their benefits, and what the Science Based Targets initiative is all about. Sam also took a sneak peek into the steps of setting targets using Net Zero Cloud. Let’s follow Sam as he dives deeper into each step in the upcoming units.

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