Who we are
The Science Based Targets Network is a civil-society and science-led initiative founded in 2019 by a group of global NGOs who have come together to help collectively define what is necessary for companies and cities to do “enough” to stay within Earth’s limits and meet society’s needs.
Our founding partners are CDP, World Resources Institute, WWF, United Nations Global Compact (also the founding partners of the Science Based Targets initiative) as well as Conservation International, UNEP-WCMC, and World Economic Forum.
SBTN is one of five components of the Global Commons Alliance (GCA), along with Earth Commission, Earth HQ, Systems Change Lab and Accountability Accelerator. GCA is a network of organizations working to ensure that societies and the global economy thrive, sustained by healthy global commons, on a stable planet.
The SBTN is a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors; a nonprofit organization (501c3) that accelerates philanthropy in pursuit of a just world.
What we do
Science Based Targets Network, or “SBTN”, is developing science-based targets for nature both for companies and cities, so they can comprehensively address their environmental impacts across biodiversity, land, freshwater and ocean, in addition to climate through the Science Based Targets initiative.
Our vision
Our vision is a global economy in which companies and cities operate within environmental boundaries on a socially equitable basis through implementation of science-based targets that reduce and improve their impact on nature and society.
These targets are introduced against the backdrop of scientific consensus that emphasizes achieving global ambitions to limit global warming to 1.5C cannot be achieved without preventing, and reversing, nature loss. Both need to be addressed together.
Our current focus
In response to these interconnected crises and drawing from the best available science on ecological thresholds and societal needs, the guidance produced by our network helps companies comprehensively quantify their environmental impacts across their operations and value chains and then move to precise and credible action at landscape-level.
This action is underpinned by targets directly linked to a company’s individual impact and grounded in environmental and societal materiality. As we guide companies through this journey, we are helping them answer the questions “how much action is enough, where and when?” based on what nature and people need to thrive. This in turn means companies can harness science-based targets for nature to boost their resilience and unlock commercial opportunities.
Our work builds on and complement climate science-based targets, which, since 2015, have been set by over 5,000 companies through the Science Based Targets initiative. SBTi is a separate but related initiative for companies setting and implementing science-based targets for climate.
Our current focus is on expanding the roll-out of corporate science-based targets for nature, building on the first methods released in 2023. At COP28 in 2023, we announced the launch of a program for cities to set science-based targets for nature which will result in preliminary guidance in 2025.
