SBTN Validation Pilot Summary Report

Detalles

Business and biodiversity basics Identifying and measuring impacts and dependencies Integrating biodiversity into a business context

The Science Target Network (SBTN) published the first corporate science-based targeting methods for nature in May 2023. The first SBTN publication invites companies to assess and prioritize their environmental impact and set targets for freshwater and land. This allows companies to reduce their negative impacts and increase the positive ones for nature, including people.

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.

A target validation pilot was launched in May 2023 with a group of 17 pioneering companies. Companies were required to prepare and submit freshwater and terrestrial targets for validation in alignment with current SBTN methods. The scope of the pilot validation included the following steps:

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.