SBTi Net Zero Standard 2.0

Author

Tim Mohin
21 Mar

What’s in this week’s newsletter:

  • SBTi releases their V2 Net Zero Standard

  • Republican representatives make the case for clean energy

  • US EPA got a restraining order preventing it from blocking funds for climate NGOs

  • Greenpeace lost its case and had to pay damages worth $660 million

  • SEC defers Names Rule amendments for 6 months

  • Germany changes debt rules and invests in climate 

  • WMO’s State of the Climate Report for 2024 makes for grim reading

Editor's Note:  One gentle reader suggested we include a “trigger warning” due to all the jarring reversals and dismantling of sustainability programs. While perhaps this was truth said in jest, there is a ton of shocking news in the market today. Andy and I talked about this a lot. We are also sensitive to the current trend and strive to report the “signal in the noise” rather than be overly reactive. We acknowledge that there are some weeks - and likely more coming - where the news will be overly negative for our readers who care about advancing the sustainability agenda. Our aim is to report the news in an accessible and balanced manner. Please keep your comments coming and please support each other when the news seems overwhelming.  

The Science-Base Target Initiative (SBTi) released a draft of their much anticipated Net Zero Standard update this week. 

The draft standard will be open to public consultation until June 1, 2025, and is expected to be finalized in 2026. It is intended that companies will be able to begin to use V2 in 2027. In the interim, companies can still set targets with the existing standards and will have 5 years, or until the end of 2030, whatever is first, to use the V2 standards.

The SBTi is considered the gold standard for climate reduction targets. They recently hit an impressive milestone of 10,000 companies with SBTi commitments. With their dominant position, the updated net zero standard is a big deal and will have huge implications for global emissions reductions. 

This week’s announcement helps quell the public controversy that erupted last year over the use of carbon offsets in net zero goals, as well as some high-profile exits from the standard. 

SBTi’s official position on offsets remains unchanged – fast and deep emissions reductions must be front and center, and they acknowledge a limited role for investment in permanent carbon removals and related carbon credits.

In addition, the new proposal doubles down on the 1.5°C goal (average temperature rise compared to pre-industrial averages), which was the cornerstone of the Paris Climate Accord.  SBTi stated that even while there was a “temporary breach of the 1.5°C global warming threshold in 2024… the Corporate Net-Zero Standard and its underlying pathways maintain 1.5°C as the central ambition.”

Other notable changes from the V1 Standard include: 

  • The process for committing to an SBTi-aligned target will be replaced with a new public commitment process.

  • There will now be differentiated requirements based on company size, with more stringent requirements for larger companies (Category A) and more flexibility for smaller companies (Category B). 

  • Separate targets will now be required for Scope 1 and 2.

  • Scope 2 goals must be location-based and reflect either a market-based approach or a net zero-carbon energy target. Renewables targets were replaced with zero-carbon electricity targets to accommodate nuclear energy.

  • Scope 3 targets are now only mandatory for Category A (larger) companies and optional for Category B (smaller companies). All companies will also be able to focus on “relevant” emissions to take a more pragmatic approach to setting Scope 3 boundaries.  Also, there are more options for the types of targets they can set (including “alignment” targets) and more flexibility for addressing hard-to-trace emissions.

  • Larger companies (Category A) will now be required to get limited assurance on their greenhouse gas emissions estimates.

  • The standard also includes new criteria on implementation programs to achieve the targets, continuous improvement, and transparency.

Republicans Make The Case For Clean Energy

A growing cadre of US Republican representatives are breaking with party lines to support Biden-era clean energy tax credits. Last week, a group of 21 Republicans wrote a letter to the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Jason Smith (R-MO), arguing that the tax credits should not be considered an Inflation Reduction Act (a deeply unpopular bill in Republican circles) measure as the credits were introduced before that.

The lead signature on the letter, Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), thinks these tactics will be persuasive enough to keep the tax credits, saying, “I think this letter shows that there is enough support that full repeal would be too painful.”

Clean energy companies have also been making their case and pleading to the Trump administration to consider the economic case for renewables. This new tact emphasizes the need for renewables to keep energy prices down when demand is surging and to ensure America’s energy dominance. 

US EPA Slapped with Restraining Order

After new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief Lee Zedlin tried to claw back $20 billion previously allocated to climate projects, a judge issued a restraining order on the basis that EPA was unable to provide any evidence that the funds were linked to fraud or abuse. The judge said the EPA’s evidence was "vague and unsubstantiated assertions" and that withdrawing the funds would put the NGOs that use them under “imminent harm.”

While the court may have curbed EPA on this issue (for now), the new leadership continued to dismantle regulations, threatened to fire over 1,000 scientists, and eliminate the Agency’s research arm.

Greenpeace Loses Landmark Case

A jury found Greenpeace liable for damages for the role it played in protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. The damages reach an eye-watering $660 million, which would ostensibly mean an end to Greenpeace’s US operations unless an appeal is successful.

The plaintiffs, a Texas-based oil and gas pipeline company - Energy Transfer - originally sued for $300 million, but the jury more than doubled the damages. The lawsuit is a type of legal action that is restricted in 35 states known as a strategic lawsuit against public participation, or “Slapps.” Slapps lawsuits are designed to silence critics by putting them through costly and lengthy legal proceedings. 

Greenpeace, which will appeal the decision, claimed that they played only a minor role in the protests and that this is a free speech issue. Deepa Padmanabha of Greenpeace USA said, “We should all be concerned about the attacks on our First Amendment and lawsuits like this that really threaten our rights to peaceful protest and free speech.” This case could have huge implications for future cases against climate protests. 

SEC Delays Names Rule

An update to the “Names Rule” under previous US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler required that funds labeled ESG, sustainability, climate, and similar words would have to demonstrate that at least 80% of their portfolio aligned with the claim. The aim of the rule was to reduce misleading ‘greenwashing’ claims in investment funds. 

This updated Names Rule was meant to kick in December this year but will now be deferred until June 2026 for large entities and December 2026 for smaller entities. The postponement was to give investors time to implement the amended rules and finalize compliance systems. 

Germany Invests in Climate

New German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

Under a plan that reforms Germany’s ‘debt brake,’ hundreds of billions of Euros will be invested in military, infrastructure, and climate spending. Because newly elected Chancellor Friedrich Merz required the support of the Greens to approve the deal, their support was contingent on a promise of €100 billion ($109 billion) in climate investment and a legal promise to reach climate neutrality by 2045.

WMOs State of Global Climate Report

The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released a damning report on the state of the world’s climate in 2024 (which was the hottest year on record and the first over 1.5°C).  

Notable takeaways from the report included:

  • CO2 levels are at the highest concentration in over 800,000 years. 

  • This is the first decade in which the last 10 years were the hottest since records began.

  • A record-breaking 151 unprecedented extreme weather events occurred in 2024, making 800,000 people homeless, the most since the recording of displacements began in 2008.

The rest of the stats don’t look great either: glacial mass is down, sea levels continue to rise, and ocean heat is increasing faster than on land. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said this should be seen as a call to action, adding, “Leaders must step up – seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies – with new national climate plans due this year.” 

The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer. 

Other Notable News:

Climate Investing 

Scope 3

EV’s

Energy Transition

Climate Reporting

Net Zero Group Exodus

Green Washing 

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