Understanding Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and Its Implications for Your Business

Integrating energy resilience and sustainability into a company’s operations is now a critical part of corporate strategy – one that can positively position businesses to attract investors, manage risk, and retain talent.

The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has emerged as a leading framework to help companies set ambitious, yet achievable, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals. As of November 2024, over 6,000 companies worldwide have established STBi-validated targets. But what exactly is SBTi, and what does it mean for your business?

What is the SBTi?

The SBTi is a not-for-profit initiative¹ that provides companies with standards, tools and guidance to help them set GHG emissions reductions in alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement which seeks to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. In concrete terms, SBTi:

• Provides businesses with methodologies and information to set emissions reduction targets.
• Includes a team of experts and scientists who provide impartial evaluations and validation of science-based targets.

SBTi regularly publishes sector-specific guidelines to address the unique needs of various industries towards achieving climate targets. Since 2021, SBTi has revamped several of these guides with the aim of getting these industries in line with 1.5 °C trajectories.  In the past year alone, SBTi has released new guides for the Buildings sector, Automakers, and Financial Institutions.

Why Should Your Business Care?

The energy transition is significantly transforming markets generating shifts in capital allocation, and impacting supply chains, among other trends. Using SBTi as a framework to reduce emissions, develop an efficient and resilient energy strategy and take a leadership role in doing business sustainably can position companies to succeed through improving:

• Risk Management: Aligning your business strategy with SBTi guidelines helps mitigate climate-related risks, including emerging climate disclosure regulations and fluctuations in carbon pricing and policies.
• Operational Efficiency: Although decarbonization can require significant capital investment, it also offers substantial benefits. Implementing measures to meet science-based targets can drive greater efficiency and cost savings by encouraging operational improvements and fostering innovation.
• Investor Confidence: Investors are increasingly considering environmental factors in their decisions. SBTi-aligned targets can attract and retain investment by demonstrating a robust approach to climate risk management and environmental stewardship.
• Reputational and Talent Advantages: Research indicates that companies who focus on sustainability[2]²; that is, helping customers live and buy more sustainably, have an advantage. Similarly, separate research shows that companies with a strong social conscience may have an advantage in attracting and retaining top talent, particularly among younger employees who increasingly make value-based decisions around employment.[i]³

What Does an SBTi Journey Look Like?

Embarking on an SBTi journey involves several key steps:

1. Commit: Sign the commitment letter indicating your company’s intention to set a science-based target.
2. Develop target: Define your net zero and/or near-term emission reduction targets in line with SBTi criteria.
3. Analyze pathways: Explore and analyze various pathways to meet these targets, ensuring they are both ambitious and achievable.
4. Submit: Submit your targets for validation
5. Implement: Put the strategies in place to achieve your targets, integrate them into your overall business operations and monitor and disclose progress regularly.

How Can Dunsky Help?

Since 2004, Dunsky has been a trusted advisor to governments, utilities, corporations, and other key players in accelerating the transition to clean, resilient and abundant energy, responsibly and at scale. We’re proud to support a diverse array of client—from industrial leaders and non-profits to financial institutions like Desjardins and Industrial Alliance—with setting and achieving targets aligned with SBTi.

As a unique, hybrid firm—half engineering, half management consulting, ALL clean energy and climate—we combine technical expertise with strategic foresight to help clients define ambitious, achievable targets aligned with SBTi, and identify realistic pathways so they can make informed, actionable decisions that drive real impact without the risk of unfulfilled promises.

Our services include:

1. Establishing SBTi-Compliant Targets: We work with you to set rigorous, attainable targets that align with the latest SBTi standards, ensuring a responsible and feasible net-zero journey. Our team continually tracks SBTi updates and evolutions in related climate frameworks, so you benefit from the most current guidance.
2. Mapping Your Current Emissions Trajectory: To create a baseline, we analyze your business-as-usual emissions trajectories across relevant sectors and regions, factoring in external influences like grid decarbonization, policy changes, and shifts in market demand. Our extensive experience with government and utility clients in North America gives us unique insights into how region-specific trends can shape your Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
3. Crafting a Decarbonization Strategy: We leverage advanced scenario analysis to design a tailored emissions-reduction roadmap that bridges your current trajectory with your decarbonization ambitions. Through detailed cost-benefit analyses, we help prioritize strategies by impact, cost, and alignment with your goals, supported by our proprietary models—such as E-FLEET and E-BUILD—and comprehensive data on decarbonization levers.
4. Turning Strategy into Action: We provide support to operationalize your decarbonization strategy. Our services range from designing governance structures, implementation planning, designing internal programs and operational tools, delivering training, stakeholder engagement, and providing continuous strategic counsel to keep you on track.

By embracing science-based targets, companies can reap benefits while strategically positioning themselves for a post-energy transition economy.  By partnering with Dunsky, your team can feel confident in selecting practical, achievable emissions-reduction strategies that will support your business by turning climate and energy challenges into opportunities and leading the way in the transition to a low-carbon economy.

To learn more or to get started, reach out at info@dunsky.com.

About Dunsky

Dunsky supports leading governments, utilities, corporations and others across North America in their efforts to accelerate the clean energy transition, effectively and responsibly. With deep expertise across the Buildings, Mobility, Industry and Energy supply sectors, our team of 60+ professionals supports clients in two ways: through rigorous Analysis (of technical, economic and market opportunities) and by designing or assessing leading Strategies (plans, programs and policies).

1. SBTi is a joint initiative of CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, the We Mean Business Coalition, the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) ↩︎
2. Bain and Co: The Sustainability Puzzle: What do Consumers Really Want? September 9, 2024. https://tinyurl.com/eavasn2j ↩︎
3. Why Sustainability is Crucial for Corporate Strategy. World Economic Forum, June 9, 2022. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/06/why-sustainability-is-crucial-for-corporate-strategy/ ↩︎