 | |
| Established | 2015 |
|---|---|
CEO | Luiz Amaral, WRI |
Staff | 85 |
| Website | sciencebasedtargets.org |
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a collaboration between the CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with a global team composed of people from these organisations. [1] Since 2015, more than 1,000 companies have joined the initiative to set a science-based climate target. [2]
The Science Based Targets initiative was established in 2015 [3] to help companies to set emission reduction targets in line with climate sciences [4] and Paris Agreement goals. [5] It is funded by IKEA Foundation, Amazon, Bezos Earth Fund, We Mean Business coalition, Rockefeller Brothers Fund and UPS Foundation. [6] In October 2021, SBTi developed and launched the world's first net zero standard, providing the framework and tools for companies to set science-based net zero targets and limit global temperature rise above pre-industrial levels to 1.5 °C. [7] [8] Best practice as identified by SBTi is for companies to adopt transition plans covering scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, set out short-term milestones, ensure effective board-level governance and link executive compensation to the company's adopted milestones. [3]
SBTi developed separate sector-specific methodologies, frameworks and requirements for different industries. As of April 2024, sector guidance [9] is available for:
In April 2024 the SBTi Board of Trustees released a statement [10] setting out an intention to permit the use of environmental attribute certificates (EACs) for abatement purposes against Scope 3 emissions reduction targets. SBTi did not previously permit the use of EACs due to the difficulties faced in tracing, measuring and validating their impact. [11]
Standards setting organizations (SSOs) who do not follow a consensus model or the WTO principles for international standards development [12] are vulnerable to lobbying from corporations, especially when they are reliant on their funding. One of the SBTi funders, the Bezos Earth Fund exerted influence on SBTi board members to relax their position on carbon offsets. [13] The statement led to a response letter [14] signed by various teams within the SBTi and media speculation about the policy change. The counter argument being that carbon offsets are incompatible with the Paris Agreement. [15]
Launched in September 2022, the SBTi's Forestry, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) guidance [16] allows companies to claim the achievement of their emission reduction targets through ‘insetting’, breaking from the long-held SBTi position that emission reduction targets should only be achieved through emission reductions. [17] Insetting is a business-driven concept and not a term defined in international standards and guidelines such as ISO 14050 Environmental Vocabulary and IWA 42 Net zero guidelines. [18]
A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country adds to the atmosphere. Carbon footprints are usually reported in tonnes of emissions (CO2-equivalent) per unit of comparison. Such units can be for example tonnes CO2-eq per year, per kilogram of protein for consumption, per kilometer travelled, per piece of clothing and so forth. A product's carbon footprint includes the emissions for the entire life cycle. These run from the production along the supply chain to its final consumption and disposal.
Carbon offsetting is a carbon trading mechanism that enables entities such as governments or businesses to compensate for their greenhouse gas emissions by investing in projects that reduce, avoid, or remove emissions elsewhere.
Business action on climate change includes a range of activities relating to climate change, and to influencing political decisions on climate change-related regulation, such as the Kyoto Protocol. Major multinationals have played and to some extent continue to play a significant role in the politics of climate change, especially in the United States, through lobbying of government and funding of climate change deniers. Business also plays a key role in the mitigation of climate change, through decisions to invest in researching and implementing new energy technologies and energy efficiency measures.
Carbon accounting is a framework of methods to measure and track how much greenhouse gas (GHG) an organization emits. It can also be used to track projects or actions to reduce emissions in sectors such as forestry or renewable energy. Corporations, cities and other groups use these techniques to help limit climate change. Organizations will often set an emissions baseline, create targets for reducing emissions, and track progress towards them. The accounting methods enable them to do this in a more consistent and transparent manner.
Aircraft engines produce gases, noise, and particulates from fossil fuel combustion, raising environmental concerns over their global effects and their effects on local air quality. Jet airliners contribute to climate change by emitting carbon dioxide, the best understood greenhouse gas, and, with less scientific understanding, nitrogen oxides, contrails and particulates. Their radiative forcing is estimated at 1.3–1.4 that of CO2 alone, excluding induced cirrus cloud with a very low level of scientific understanding. In 2018, global commercial operations generated 2.4% of all CO2 emissions.
The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill (AB) 32, is a California State Law that fights global warming by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state. AB32 was co-authored by then-Assemblymember Fran Pavley and then-Speaker of the California Assembly Fabian Nunez and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on September 27, 2006.
The Gold Standard (GS), or Gold Standard for the Global Goals, is a standard and logo certification mark program, for non-governmental emission reductions projects in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), the Voluntary Carbon Market and other climate and development interventions. It is published and administered by the Gold Standard Foundation, a non-profit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It was designed with an intent to ensure that carbon credits are real, verifiable, and that projects make measurable contributions to sustainable development. The objective of the GS is to add branding, with a quality label, to carbon credits generated by projects which can then be bought and traded by countries that have a binding legal commitment according to the Kyoto Protocol, businesses, or other organizations for carbon offsetting purposes.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), originally named the Committee on Climate Change, is an independent non-departmental public body, formed under the Climate Change Act (2008) to advise the United Kingdom and devolved Governments and Parliaments on tackling and preparing for climate change. The Committee provides advice on setting carbon budgets, and reports regularly to the Parliaments and Assemblies on the progress made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Notably, in 2019 the CCC recommended the adoption of a target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the United Kingdom by 2050. On 27 June 2019 the British Parliament amended the Climate Change Act (2008) to include a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. The CCC also advises and comments on the UK's progress on climate change adaptation through updates to Parliament.
The United States produced 5.2 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2020, the second largest in the world after greenhouse gas emissions by China and among the countries with the highest greenhouse gas emissions per person. In 2019 China is estimated to have emitted 27% of world GHG, followed by the United States with 11%, then India with 6.6%. In total the United States has emitted a quarter of world GHG, more than any other country. Annual emissions are over 15 tons per person and, amongst the top eight emitters, is the highest country by greenhouse gas emissions per person. However, the IEA estimates that the richest decile in the US emits over 55 tonnes of CO2 per capita each year. Because coal-fired power stations are gradually shutting down, in the 2010s emissions from electricity generation fell to second place behind transportation which is now the largest single source. In 2020, 27% of the GHG emissions of the United States were from transportation, 25% from electricity, 24% from industry, 13% from commercial and residential buildings and 11% from agriculture. In 2021, the electric power sector was the second largest source of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 25% of the U.S. total. These greenhouse gas emissions are contributing to climate change in the United States, as well as worldwide.
Carbon dioxide removal (CDR) is a process in which carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere by deliberate human activities and durably stored in geological, terrestrial, or ocean reservoirs, or in products. This process is also known as carbon removal, greenhouse gas removal or negative emissions. CDR is more and more often integrated into climate policy, as an element of climate change mitigation strategies. Achieving net zero emissions will require first and foremost deep and sustained cuts in emissions, and then—in addition—the use of CDR. In the future, CDR may be able to counterbalance emissions that are technically difficult to eliminate, such as some agricultural and industrial emissions.
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is a global research non-profit organization established in 1982 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation under the leadership of James Gustave Speth. Subsequent presidents include Jonathan Lash, Andrew D. Steer and current president Ani Dasgupta (2021-).
Harmonization is the process of minimizing redundant or conflicting standards which may have evolved independently. The name is also an analogy to the process to harmonizing discordant music.
As the most populous state in the United States, California's climate policies influence both global climate change and federal climate policy. In line with the views of climate scientists, the state of California has progressively passed emission-reduction legislation.
CO2balance UK Ltd is a British profit-for-purpose carbon management consultancy and project developer founded in 2003. It is known for developing carbon finance projects in developing countries that reduce carbon emissions and support the Sustainable Development Goals. CO2balance also provides businesses and individuals with carbon footprint calculation and reduction services, bestowing the label of ‘CarbonZero’ on those organisations that completely offset the footprint of their operations.
A climate target, climate goal or climate pledge is a measurable long-term commitment for climate policy and energy policy with the aim of limiting the climate change. Researchers within, among others, the UN climate panel have identified probable consequences of global warming for people and nature at different levels of warming. Based on this, politicians in a large number of countries have agreed on temperature targets for warming, which is the basis for scientifically calculated carbon budgets and ways to achieve these targets. This in turn forms the basis for politically decided global and national emission targets for greenhouse gases, targets for fossil-free energy production and efficient energy use, and for the extent of planned measures for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration includes a series of laws, regulations, and programs introduced by United States President Joe Biden since he took office in January 2021. Many of the actions taken by the Biden administration reversed the policies of his predecessor, Donald Trump. Biden's climate change policy focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, similar to the efforts taken by the Obama administration. Biden promised to end and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030. The main climate target of the Biden administration is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the United States to net zero by 2050. John Kerry leads the effort as Special Envoy for Climate.
The Climate Pledge Fund is a division of Amazon, set up to develop and manage investments in the climate technology space, as part of its Climate Pledge initiative. It is a corporate venture capital fund.
The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) is a group that formed during the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, and describes itself as "a global coalition of leading financial institutions committed to accelerating the decarbonization of the economy."
Global net zero emissions describes the state where emissions of carbon dioxide due to human activities and removals of these gases are in balance over a given period. It is often called simply net zero. In some cases, emissions refers to emissions of all greenhouse gases, and in others it refers only to emissions of carbon dioxide. To reach net zero targets requires actions to reduce emissions. One example would be by shifting from fossil fuel energy to sustainable energy sources. Organizations often offset their residual emissions by buying carbon credits.
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