SBTi Trend Tracker 2025

We are now halfway through the ‘decisive decade’ for climate action - and the stakes have never been higher.

Over the past 18 months, global average temperatures exceeded 1.5°C for the first time, while extreme weather events disrupted lives, supply chains, and economies around the world. The climate crisis is not a distant challenge - it is a defining feature of today’s operating environment, one with immediate cost and supply chain implications.

Despite that stark picture, there is cause for optimism. Science-based corporate climate target-setting is stronger than ever in both depth and scale; accelerating across companies, regions, and sectors.

Mountain sunrise snow 1

The organic expansion of ambition and action demonstrates that companies worldwide are gearing up for transformation that delivers resilience, stability, and long-term competitiveness:

  1. Corporate coverage is accelerating at scale: Nearly 11,000 companies have either already set greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets with the SBTi or have committed to set them, and the number of companies, cumulatively, with validated net-zero targets had trebled by the end of Q2 2025 compared to the end of 2023. Science-based targets now cover over 40% of global market capitalization and a quarter of global revenue. This critical mass underscores how climate goals are rapidly becoming embedded in core business strategies worldwide.
  2. Asia emerges as an engine of growth: China led the way as the fastest-growing country for science-based targets within the reporting period, with Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Republic of Korea close behind. Businesses in these economies - many of which play a central role in global value chains and carry high scope 3 emissions - are not only setting targets themselves, but actively encouraging suppliers and partners to follow suit. As a result, Asia is becoming a powerful amplifier of climate ambition, catalysing a ripple-effect of science-based target-setting across supply chains and sectors.
  3. Companies across sectors are listening and leading: Industrials, Consumer Goods, and Materials are now among the fastest adopters of science-based targets. These sectors are responding to stakeholder expectations and market signals - showing that climate ambition is becoming a core part of doing business responsibly and competitively.
~11,000
companies have validated targets or have committed to set them
8,200+
companies with validated targets
1,900+
companies have validated net-zero targets (as of the reporting period for this briefing Financial Institutions could not pursue validated net-zero targets).
86
territories are home to companies with validated targets
Industrials
lead the way in targets by sector

Disclaimer: ‘Companies’ include corporates, FIs and SMEs. Data correct as of the end of June 2025.