Technical governance
Robust technical governance is central to the SBTi. Find out how decisions about our technical developments are guided to ensure robust, impactful and effective standards, methods and guidance.
The SBTi’s approach to technical governance ensures our standards, methods and guidance are effective, rigorous and credible to the wide range of stakeholders they impact. We have put in place clear, transparent and robust governance mechanisms that ensure independent and objective technical decision-making.
At the core of our approach is a group of bodies formed of independent experts: the Technical Council, a new external decision-making body; as well as a Technical Advisory Group, and Scientific Advisory Group. In addition, distinct Expert Advisory Groups are convened to support the development of discrete projects, such as development of guidance for a specific sector.
The roles for these bodies, and how they collectively support robust independent technical decision-making, are set out below.
Technical Council
A permanent, independent decision-making body, our new Technical Council will ensure the robustness and credibility of our standards, methods and guidance as they develop and adapt to the emerging insights from climate science and the needs and realities of our markets.
The Technical Council will review and approve, and recommend that the Executive Board approves the SBTi’s adoption of SBTi standards, methods, guidance and other relevant technical decisions. Appointed and overseen by the SBTi’s Executive Board for a renewable term of two years, it includes a Chair who will act as liaison between the Council and the Executive Board.
The scope of the Technical Council will cover all normative technical documentation, including development and revision of pathways, target-setting methods, standards, cross-sector guidance and sector-specific guidance.
Advisory groups
Technical Advisory Group (TAG)
The TAG is an advisory body that provides expert advice to inform the development and revision of SBTi standards, methods, guidance and other technical outputs. TAG members have in-depth knowledge of climate change mitigation or expertise in science-based target setting. They bring diverse perspectives from business, academia, government, non-profit and multilateral organizations. Members are appointed by the SBTi Secretariat for a fixed-term of two years. The scope of the TAG spans all technical developments for which an ad-hoc Expert Advisory Group has not been created (see below). For more information, please see the Terms of Reference for the TAG.
Scientific Advisory Group (SAG)
An advisory body comprised of experts from the scientific community with specialized expertise in climate science and climate change mitigation. They provide advice to ensure the robustness of the pathways and methods that underpin science-based target-setting.
Expert Advisory Groups (EAG)
Project-specific multi-stakeholder bodies that provide input throughout the development of specific projects. EAGs are appointed by the project lead for the duration of a project. The scope of EAGs is limited to the project for which they were created.
A comparative overview can be found in the table below:
