Our 2026-2030 strategy: Catalyzing corporate action
As corporate climate ambition scales, the challenge is evolving—from setting targets to delivering them. SBTi’s new strategy sets out how we will evolve from ambition-setter to transformation partner—supporting companies not only in setting targets, but turning them into measurable, real-world results that manage transition risk, strengthen competitiveness, and ultimately deliver the greatest possible climate impact.
Over the past decade, the SBTi has established science-based targets as the global benchmark for credible corporate climate action—supporting a growing movement of more than 13,000 companies worldwide.
As more companies move from target-setting to implementation, the context for business is evolving. Companies face rising costs, shifting demand, regulatory uncertainty, and increasing expectations—making transition risk a core business consideration.
Our new strategy responds to this shift—focusing on how we accelerate implementation, strengthen collaboration across the ecosystem, and scale impact.
We are maximizing our impact by strengthening partnerships, expanding into high-emitting sectors and regions, and ensuring that working with the SBTi makes businesses stronger—not just more credible—while accelerating emissions reductions in line with net-zero by 2050.
“The SBTi’s strategy marks an important pivot from climate ambition to implementation, recognizing and collectively addressing the systemic barriers that make transition difficult. The companies that lead in this next phase will help drive system-level solutions – turning climate action from a commitment into a source of long-term competitiveness and growth. SBTi will be an active member of the ecosystem, partnering to reinforce alignment and support more effective corporate action.” - Ani Dasgupta - President & CEO, WRI and author of The New Global Possible
The basics of our new approach
We have listened to feedback from companies and partners and will maintain the SBTi’s widely recognized status as the ‘gold standard’ for corporate climate action through four major shifts:
- Moving from a generalized approach to action-focused standards and tailored pathways across sectors and geographies, aligned with what companies can influence
- Expanding our focus from target-setting to implementation, with greater emphasis on data transparency and system-level progress
- Strengthening partnerships to reduce fragmentation, duplication, and burden for companies
- Maximizing our impact by expanding our network in high-emitting sectors and regions
We will deliver these shifts through two core priorities: Ambition to Action and Maximizing Impact.
From Ambition to Action
Companies across our network have made significant progress—setting targets, embedding climate into strategy, and delivering emissions reductions.
As this work advances, businesses are increasingly focused on how to accelerate implementation and achieve results at scale.
In response, the SBTi is expanding its role: continuing to uphold the integrity of science-based targets, while also supporting companies as a transformation partner through:
- Evolving the suite of SBTi standards
- Supporting implementation and innovation
Maximizing Impact
To maximize impact, we are strengthening partnerships and expanding our network of companies—helping to create a more joined-up system that reduces complexity and burden for businesses.
As the SBTi has grown, our next phase will focus on targeted expansion, prioritizing high-impact sectors and regions, through:
- Stronger partnerships across the ecosystem
- Deeper engagement with high-emitting sectors and regions
By improving system alignment and expanding our reach, we can accelerate emissions reductions and increase the real-world impact of corporate climate action.
Progress & TransparencyFor companies that may not meet their targets despite using all available levers and making strong progress in reducing emissions, we clarify that targets are set on a best-efforts basis in a context of uncertainty and dependency—particularly for scope 3 emissions. Where gaps arise, companies should be transparent, explaining where they have made progress and where there have been barriers to implementation, and stating how they will contribute to addressing those barriers—including through facilitation by the SBTi. Towards the end of the target cycle, they should set new targets to ensure ongoing alignment between the current state and net-zero pathways. In taking these steps, companies can continue working with the SBTi, making credible claims about progress toward net-zero, and avoiding greenwashing risk. Ambition will be upheld through strong guardrails: annual progress reporting that brings transparency and scrutiny where key actions are well-understood and can be benchmarked, alongside third-party assurance of five-year reviews and performance criteria for setting new targets. Moreover, it is in companies’ commercial interests to pursue ambition to the fullest extent. |
"Corporate climate action is evolving and with it a need for greater coherence across standards and frameworks. The SBTi’s emphasis on a joined-up approach with deep partnerships is essential in fostering clarity and confidence amongst companies, their leaders, and the sustainability teams. Maintaining a close dialogue with business is critical to ensure these efforts remain practical and effective in supporting implementation and the transition to net-zero.” - Dominic Waughray, Executive Vice President, Imperatives, WBCSD
The Theory of Change
Underpinning this strategy is a Theory of Change, developed through extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders.
It highlights three core strengths that stakeholders value most:
- The SBTi is the voice of science in the corporate climate space
- The SBTi is supported by the private sector and the scientific and climate action community
- The SBTi is regarded as the common global standard for corporate net-zero action
Our Theory of Change sets out how corporate climate action translates into system-level impact across four key pathways:
- Markets: By setting standards that companies adopt across their operations and value chains, the SBTi helps drive widespread decarbonisation and make net-zero alignment a market expectation
- Policy and regulation: SBTi frameworks and data support governments to design effective climate policies and disclosure rules, reinforcing corporate action
- Finance: Financial institutions integrate science-based approaches into lending and investment decisions, directing capital towards companies that are decarbonizing
- Technology: Science-based targets create demand for low-carbon technologies, helping to accelerate innovation, investment, and deployment across sectors
To enable impact across these pathways, the Theory of Change defines two core areas of activity for the SBTi:
- Translating climate science into actionable target-setting and supporting implementation
- Collaborating with partners to align standards and create more consistent, interoperable approaches across the corporate climate ecosystem
Together, these activities build on the SBTi’s core strengths and enable us to unlock impact at scale—supporting companies to deliver measurable progress and contributing to the goals of the Paris Agreement.
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