Webinar Write Up: The Expert’s Guide to Setting Science-Based Targets
If you would like to watch the on-demand webinar, you can do so here.
Unlocking your Business’s Potential Through Sustainability
Setting a Science-Based Target (SBT) is about more than sustainability. SBTs align corporate greenhouse gas reduction targets with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Setting SBTs can enhance brand reputation, ensure regulatory compliance, drive emission reductions, and create bottom-line financial savings.
80% of corporate executives whose companies have already set SBTs are seeing a reputation boost as a result. These benefits have led to increased uptake in SBT commitments. Indeed, 70% of FTSE companies have set SBTs and are planning to ask suppliers to do the same.
However, setting SBTs is a long-term process, ultimately requiring businesses to set targets for 2050. It may require changing how your business works, implementing new processes, and accelerating supplier engagement.
In this webinar, Emitwise’s Climate Solutions Lead and Carbon Accounting Alliance Member Lizzy Almond and Head of Carbon Management Tom Wood guided organisations through the process of setting targets. Here’s everything you need to know about science-based targets.
Ensuring Regulatory Compliance to Future-proof Your Business
Sustainability legislation is rapidly changing the way business is done. Establishing processes to identify, assess and mitigate emissions risks under regulations such as the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is now mandatory.
The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) is already a factor in business decisions, and it’s no secret that the UK is considering implementing similar environmental legislation in 2025. We’re also seeing that suppliers bidding for UK government contracts need a 2050 net zero target and a carbon reduction plan.
Presentations littered with sustainability acronyms have business leaders scratching their heads, but SBTs offer companies a simplified way to comply with most of these regulations. The Science Based Target Initiative (SBTi) offers sector-specific pathways and guidance for companies embarking on their decarbonisation journey.
The Five Steps to Setting Science-Based Targets:
- Commit to setting targets by submitting a letter to the SBTi.
- Develop the targets within two years.
- Submit the final targets to the SBTi for validation.
- Communicate the target to stakeholders.
- Disclose progress towards meeting the target.
Submitting your letter of intent starts a two-year period in which companies must develop and submit their actual targets. SMEs don’t need to submit a letter of intent to commit, as they can submit their targets directly.
Preparing a SBT will take time and effort. You’ll need an emissions baseline against which you can compare future emissions reductions. Arriving at a baseline is a complex process, and the initial calculation must be done right. If the baseline needs changing because of developments within the business, with an acquisition occurring, for example, they may be required to resubmit their SBTs.
For this reason, it is advised to recruit a dedicated sustainability team with the expertise and capacity to collect the data needed to feed these calculations and use a specialist service provider.
Once a submission is made, the SBTi will publish it on its website and advise on how businesses can best publicly communicate their SBT commitment. Companies must also commit to reporting their progress annually.
What’s Involved in a Science-Based Target?
SBTs include near-term (5-10 years from submission date) and long-term (up to 2050 or before) targets, summarised below:
The biggest step on the emissions reduction journey is implementing effective data collection and calculation processes, especially for scope 3 emissions. Varying with business size and sector, many data points need to be collected and calculated. To this end, effective supply chain engagement is critical.
Solving the Scope 3 Dilemma
To reflect the scale and complexity of reducing scope 3 emissions, the SBTi has created a fourth target-setting method. These targets focus on ensuring that a company’s most carbon-intensive suppliers and the most material suppliers by spend have themselves set science-based targets.
Transparency about emissions data is a matter of mutual interest, as demonstrable climate progress makes suppliers more marketable to buyers. Emitwise strives to make the process of gathering and sharing emissions data as easy as possible for businesses and their suppliers.
A practical approach to reducing scope 3 emissions is to start by engaging the most emission-intensive suppliers. Procurewise helps companies solve the scope 3 dilemma with a supply chain engagement programme. It includes an automated scan to identify which hotspots and suppliers businesses should engage with first. Suppliers are screened for carbon management maturity and data availability to determine where the low-hanging fruit is. It’s always best to start with the easy wins.
You’ll inevitably encounter suppliers whose emissions data is lacking, so Procurewise offers them a free, automated baseline assessment. Suppliers upload their purchasing data in Procurewise and get a full scope 1, 2 and 3 baseline assessment in return. This is a great way to get suppliers started on the carbon management ladder, and it creates a foundation for future engagement. Emitwise will also include data from more mature suppliers in your business’s carbon accounting calculations by looking at their published Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs).
Once Emitwise has collected all the data and calculated supplier emissions, it feeds these results into the client’s carbon footprint calculations. When combined with Emitwise’s substantial bank of supplier and product-level emissions data, clients are provided with the most granular carbon accounting data on the market.
Different calculation methodologies can produce variable results dependent on their approach, and Emitwise doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. Its algorithm applies an uncertainty rating to each approach, combining the most accurate and relevant data and choosing the results with the least uncertainty. In line with Emitwise’s commitment to financial-grade carbon accounting data, Emitwise only uses supplier-specific data when it meets accuracy thresholds.
How CBRE Benefits from SBTs
CBRE is reaping the benefits of setting science-based targets. On its journey to reaching Net Zero by 2040, it has committed to reducing absolute scope 1 and 2 emissions by 67% by 2035 and scope 3 emissions from the use of sold products managed on behalf of occupiers.
Their Net Zero ambition and the need to achieve scope 3 emission reductions led them to launch their supplier decarbonisation programme, Carbon Trace, in 2023. They have been working with Emitwise to leverage technology that will enable them to engage suppliers at scale and calculate supply chain emissions with greater accuracy.
“Decarbonizing supply chains requires breakthroughs in using technology and data in new ways to simplify the challenges of managing complex value chains. We are excited to partner with Emitwise to help our clients reduce their carbon impact and support our efforts to decarbonize our own supply chain.” CBRE’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Robert Bernard
Through this programme, procurement teams and suppliers make decisions every day based on primary scope 3 emissions data. These initiatives allow CBRE to accelerate its decarbonisation journey and differentiate itself within the real estate industry.
By setting science-based targets, companies are incentivised to identify innovative ways to achieve emission reductions, both within their operations and collaboratively with their suppliers.
Get in touch to explore how you can set science-based targets.
