How do I check whether a company really has an SBTi-validated target?

Question

Senseible · Accepted Answer

Search the company on the SBTi Target Dashboard at sciencebasedtargets.org. A validated target is listed with its wording, scopes and date. A commitment only means the company has promised to set one. Check the exact legal entity, because a parent's target may not cover the supplier you buy from. A validated target: the dashboard lists the target, its classification, the scopes it covers and its wording. A commitment: the company has said it will set a target within the SBTi's deadline. Nothing is validated yet. A commitment that was removed or has lapsed: treat any claim of an SBTi target as unsupported. Not listed: no SBTi target or commitment under that name. Read the dashboard's own legend for the exact status labels. Match the legal name and country. Indian subsidiaries often trade under a group name that has a target. Read the target text: near-term or net-zero, base year, target year, and which scopes it covers. Check whether it was set on the SME route, and which scopes the entry lists. Note the date; older targets may have been set under earlier criteria. Ask for the company's latest published emissions and its progress against the target. "SBTi approved" with no dashboard entry. A commitment presented as a validated target. A parent company's target quoted for a separate legal entity without confirmation that it is included. Credits presented as progress toward the target. The SBTi does not count credits as reductions.

How do I check whether a company really has an SBTi-validated target?

Read the status, not the press release

Checks beyond the status

Red flags in a supplier's claim

What Senseible does here