How it works
Science-based targets give companies and cities a clear pathway to reducing emissions and tackling nature loss
Companies and cities have a key role to play in both decarbonizing our economies and restoring balance to the “global commons”: land, oceans, freshwater and biodiversity, alongside climate.
Science-based target setting helps companies and cities build resilience, reduce risk, drive innovations and increase prosperity. Reversing nature loss in line with science will create a future of resilient businesses, healthy cities and sustainable economies.
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How will nature science-based targets be verified and validated?
We will confirm these processes after our methods are complete. We envision a mix of public reporting and third party verification, building on the existing processes for validating climate science-based targets.
How are SBTs for nature different from SBTs for climate?
For climate, science-based targets correspond to a global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C and address greenhouse gas emissions. Companies or cities must reduce their emissions, but have freedom in determining the ways in which to do so.
For nature, science-based targets must account for the fact that:
1
There is currently no singular, overarching global goal around which we can organize ourselves to take action for nature.
2
The drivers of nature loss are multiple and varied.
3.
For climate, the single indicator to track is greenhouse gas emissions. For nature, we need to track indicators related to biodiversity, water, land, and the ocean.
4.
Climate action can happen anywhere, but for nature, the drivers and consequences of nature’s loss and degradation are location-specific. This means we must ask where to act to attain critical outcomes.
5.
Protecting nature requires both reducing and stopping ‘negative’ actions like pollution and increasing the ‘good’ like restoring and regenerating nature.