Dive Brief:
- The Science Based Targets initiative announced Thursday that 10,000 companies have had their science-based climate targets validated by the organization.
- SBTi — which validates that corporate targets align with leading climate science — said the companies represent over 40% of global market capitalization and include major names across a wide range of sectors, regions and industries. Companies with verified science-based targets include Danone, McLaren Racing, Lenovo and Orsted, according to a Jan. 22 release.
- The organization validated targets for over 2,800 companies in 2025 and reached the 10,000 company milestone at the beginning of this year, according to the release. According to SBTI’s dashboard, 10,051 companies have validated targets, while 12,647 companies have targets or commitments.
Dive Insight:
SBTi’s definition of a “validated target” is a corporate greenhouse gas emission reduction goal that the organization has assessed and approved as aligning with the latest climate science. These targets, at minimum, should seek to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and be in line with SBTi-approved pathways to hit net-zero emissions by 2050, per the organization’s website.
“Companies are setting science-based targets because they recognize the strategic, reputational and financial benefits of net-zero business transformation,” SBTi CEO David Kennedy said in the release. “This milestone reflects a growing commitment by companies to set credible, accountable targets, and we look forward to supporting many more as this transition continues.”
SBTi said that while European-headquartered companies comprised a substantial share of the 10,000 validated companies, growth in Asia had fast-tracked in recent years. Japan now has the highest number of validated companies with 2,000, and is followed by the U.K., U.S. and China.
The announcement comes shortly after the organization released a report which found that the number of companies across the world with both validated near-term and net-zero science-based climate targets has more than tripled since the end of 2023. The August report also noted that almost 11,000 companies worldwide now either have near-term targets or near-term and net-zero targets, or have committed to setting them, as of Q2 of 2025.
SBTi also debuted a draft net-zero standard for the power sector last fall, and opened up a pilot testing period for companies in December. The standard is designed to be interoperable with version 2 of SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard. An updated draft of the Corporate Net-Zero Standard was released in November, which followed pilot testing.
