Influential initiative updates approach for assessing if corporate carbon targets are in line with 1.5C and 'well below 2C' warming goals
Corporates striving for 'best in class' sustainability strategies will have to meet tougher criteria to gain approval from the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI).
The body, which independently assesses corporate carbon reduction targets to ensure they are in line with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement, said yesterday it had updated its materials for 1.5C targets to bring them in line with the latest guidance from the IPCC's landmark report last year.
The October paper made headlines around the world for its stark assessment of the severe impacts more than 1.5C of warming would have on the world, and its declaration that deep emissions reductions are needed within 12 years if there is to be any chance of avoiding higher levels of warming.
Only a handful of companies - including Tesco, BT and Pukka Herbs - have set science-based targets in line with 1.5C of warming, with most corporates instead opting for less stringent, but still hugely demanding emissions goals, in line with a 2C warming trajectory.
But from October 2019 the SBTI said companies will at a minimum have to set targets in line with the Paris Agreement's stated goal of keeping temperature increases "well below" 2C.
And to ensure targets remain aligned with the most recent climate science, companies will be required to review, and if necessary revalidate, their targets every five years from the date of the original target approval, SBTI added. The new approach will become mandatory from 2025, it said.
Alexander Farsan, global lead for science-based targets at WWF, one of the Science Based Targets initiative partners, said the changes were made to ensure the SBTI's work reflects the urgency of the climate challenge.
"Companies have a vital role to play in realising this goal," he said. "The latest science from the IPCC has shown the way forward. We urge companies to raise the bar and set the pace of change that we know is needed."
Since the SBTI started in 2015, it has approved targets from more than 160 companies, with a further 350 firms having committed to setting a science-based target within the next two years. Kingfisher, the firm behind DIY brands Screwfix and Homebase, became the latest corporate to have its targets approved by the Committee earlier this week.