Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
Body that validates corporate emission reduction targets against the trajectories of the Paris Agreement.
The Science Based Targets initiative is an independent body that validates corporate greenhouse gas reduction targets against trajectories compatible with limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. A target is described as science-based when it derives from a modeled carbon budget rather than an arbitrary ambition. The framework covers scopes 1, 2 and, increasingly, scope 3. For the financial and insurance sector, the SBTi has developed dedicated methodologies for financed emissions and, more difficultly, for insurance-associated emissions. SBTi validation has become a credibility signal used to distinguish a substantive transition plan from a declarative commitment. The methodology was the subject of internal debate in 2024 over the use of carbon credits for scope 3, illustrating the difficulty of standardizing climate rigor.
Hypothetical case: an insurer with an SBTi-validated target on its financed emissions has a credibility argument before a client or regulator, unlike a mere unverified net zero pledge.
SBTi, science-based targets
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