SBTN Validation Pilot Summary Report

• To set and implement goals, companies must first validate them.
• This is an independent process to ensure the integrity of the objectives. This is an independent process that involves review experts to ensure the integrity of the objective.
• Companies with validated targets meet all the requirements set out in the methods and are aligned with what science requires.

• Step 1: Assess: Companies examine the materiality of their portfolios of economic activities and then estimate contributions to key issues by assessing the pressures and states/impacts associated with each category of activity.
• Step 2: Interpret and prioritize: Companies identify the places where action is most urgently needed for nature and people and then prioritize the places based on other factors (e.g., strategic importance).

• Step 3: Measure, Set, Disclose – Target-setting methods for land and freshwater pressures, which are key drivers of biodiversity loss and climate change.

Companies first completed Steps 1 and 2 and then submitted their goals for validation in February-March 2024.
 

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the pilot were:
1. Test validation requirements: Ensure they are clear, feasible, robust, and ambitious before wider implementation.
2. Test validation processes and resources: including interacting with companies, using submission forms and templates, developing validation reports, and adjusting claims guidance.
3. Inform research into alternative validation models: including validation governance and companies' journey towards goal setting.
4. Know the effort, resources and skills needed: for companies, for the validation team and for support groups.