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Launched in 2015, the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) provides companies with a framework for setting emission reduction goals aligned with climate requirements. Its ambition is to keep global warming below the thresholds defined by the Paris Agreement (±1.5°C) and to reach net zero by 2050, which implies a drop in global emissions of around 5% per year. It has established itself as a global reference with more than 10,700 companies committed in 2024, including around 8,000 with validated objectives.
SBTi methods have evolved: since 2022, short-term goals for companies must aim for 1.5°C. In addition, sectoral standards have emerged (energy, steel, cement, transport, etc.) and a Net Zero standard has been introduced, as well as a section specific to forest and agricultural emissions (FLAG). However, the major challenge remains Scope 3 (until 75% of a company's carbon footprint), but the SBTi plans to allow the limited use of carbon credits to reach the targets. This orientation — which still has to go through public consultation and formal validation — is drawing criticism and fear of a corporate greenwashing because it allows businesses to offsetting their indirect emissions rather than actually reducing them.
Corporate membership in the SBTi has accelerated exponentially in recent years. At the end of 2023, there were 4,204 companies that had their scientific reduction objectives validated, i.e. +102% in one year (2,080 at the end of 2022). This dynamic continued in 2024: to date, the SBTi lists more than 10,700 companies involved, including about 8,000 have validated objectives. This figure includes hundreds of SMEs, facilitated by an adapted process and the majority of major international groups. Around 2,900 businesses additional ones are officially in the process of developing their targets (committed to defining them within 24 months).
From a sectoral point of view, all areas are now represented. Service companies and the manufacturing industry are particularly numerous among SBTi members, combining nearly 60% of businesses that set targets in 2023. Various players quickly adopted the initiative (L'Oréal, Unilever, Microsoft), gradually joined by heavy industries (Holcim, ArcelorMittal, etc.). However, some high-emission sectors remain in the background: for example, O&G majors are almost absent from the SBTi to date, due to a lack of adapted methodology and doubts about the compatibility of their current business model.
Geographically, the companies involved come from 76 countries, with a strong presence of Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Western Europe, North America and Asia are highly represented; emerging markets are growing in power.
In principle, the objectives validated by the SBTi offer a numerical roadmap showing how much and how quickly to reduce emissions This voluntary approach has undeniably increased the climate ambition of the private sector: in 2020, committed companies collectively reduced their direct emissions (Scopes 1 and 2) by 12%, against a global trend of Stagnation or even a slight increase in emissions. In addition, around 39% of the global economy (in market capitalization) is now covered by targets validated or in the process of being adopted via SBTi, which gives hope for a significant macroeconomic impact.
However, setting a goal does not guarantee its achievement. Of 56 large companies whose SBTi target expired in 2025 or earlier, only 18 (around 30%) had achieved more than 70% of the target reduction, according to the Monitoring Report 2022. This observation suggests that companies are struggling to transform the test into concrete and sufficient actions. Without questioning certain high-emission business models, progress may only be marginal. Among the major emitters, only 2% are committed to no longer investing in uncontrolled carbon capacities. Similarly, according to an international assessment, 4% of businesses Having proclaimed a carbon neutrality objective, meet the minimum network criteria Race to Zero of the UN.
Finally, the SBTi remains a voluntary initiative, with no binding force. Its scope, although growing, is not universal: whole sectors of the global economy are (again?) to its influence. In conjunction with public policies, the initiative cannot replace more stringent regulations, but it prepares the ground by getting private actors used to decarbonization trajectories compatible with the Paris agreements.