First reality check launched for corporate climate claims: Details here

Large companies must convince the SBTi that they have a credible plan to halve their emissions before 2030 and eliminate 90-95 per cent of emissions before 2050 compared with a base year after 2015

A UN-backed body launched a scheme to verify corporates’ net zero strategies on Thursday that is likely to become a standard for regulators and investors to measure companies’ climate ambitions.

With rising investor and societal pressure on companies to reduce emissions to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7° Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, firms have come up with multiple ways to express climate strategies.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a collaboration between the United Nations and commodities, and climate-focused non-governmental bodies, aims to make corporate climate pledges comparable and, ultimately, more credible.

“For the first time, the SBTi Net-Zero Standard offers