Regional Initiatives

SBTN’s regional initiative in China is led by Colorful Earth, and is focused on holding webinars, leading discussions with companies, and translating SBTN materials to reach a broader audience in China.

Resources & Outputs

The regional initiative in China has helped create the following key resources:

• Article interviewing SBTN Executive Director Erin Billman about science-based targets for nature (Bloomberg Green China) 
• Translated resources for partners, in Simplified Chinese. (SBTN Partners can access these in the Partner Portal). 
• Webinar hosted on July 18, 2025 alongside TÜV Rheinland, attracting over 100 registrants across sectors such as technology, sports, automotive, and fashion. The webinar introduced SBTN to corporate sustainability professionals in China – covering the basics of SBTN’s 5-step approach, common misconceptions, and engagement opportunities including the Corporate Engagement Program. 

Get Involved

Interested in joining or connecting with SBTN’s regional initiative in China? 

Contact: Koko Tang: k.tang@colorful-earth.com

SBTN’s regional initiative in Finland is led by UNGC Network Finland, which developed a training program for Finnish companies to explore the SBTN framework for setting science-based targets for nature. 

The programme was initially launched in May 2023, and the first cohort ran from August 2023 until March 2024. 15 Finnish companies participated, including 13 large companies and 2 SMEs from varying sectors.

The next cohort of the programme will begin in January 2026. Applications for Finnish companies interested in participating open in August 2025. 

Learn more about the next cohort here.

Resources & Outputs

• UN Global Compact Network Finland (2024): Accelerating Ambitious Nature Action. This report summarizes participants’ findings and experiences from the 2023-2024 programme, including case studies. 

Get Involved

Contact: netta.honkanen@globalcompact.fi

The Nature Transition Lab, a new initiative led by WWF France and the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB), is mobilizing French companies toward credible action for nature, with SBTN as a strategic partner.

Some objectives of the Nature Transition Lab include:

• Supporting companies in implementing SBTN’s target-setting framework by enabling practical solutions, disseminating best practices, and developing joint projects. 
• Establish direct connections between member companies and SBTN, to enhance relevance and operability. 
• Consolidate a complementary ecosystem of tools dedicated to achieving a good ecological status in companies (measurement tools, target-setting methodologies, reporting frameworks, nature transition plans, etc.). 

Members participate in activities such as technical workshops, with peer exchanges and support from experts, and field expeditions to companies’ sites, as a source of inspiration for best practices. 

In addition to science-based targets for nature, the Lab advocates for a public commitment program “Businesses Committed to Nature” (Entreprises Engagees pour la Nature – EEN), led by OFB, which aims to promote corporate action plans based on best available approaches. By integrating SBTN’s rigorous target-setting framework with the EEN scheme, the Lab provides companies with a structured approach to taking meaningful action for nature. 

This collaboration will generate insights that strengthen SBTN’s methodologies, and it will also significantly contribute to the objectives of France’s National 2030 Biodiversity Strategy.

Resources & Outputs

• Corporate Manual for setting science-based targets for nature translated into French

Get Involved

For more information on the initiative: 

• Visit the Nature Transition Lab website
• Learn more about the French Office for Biodiversity 
• Learn more about “Entreprise Engagée pour la Nature”

Interested in connecting with the Nature Transition Lab? 

Contact: cionescu@wwf.fr

SBTN’s regional initiative in Japan is led by CDP Worldwide-Japan, and has engaged 20+ local organizations, including twelve companies, three financial institutions, two consultancies, two experts from an NGO, and two academics. Representatives from government agencies such as the Ministry of the Environment and Forest Agency of Japan also engaged with the initiative.

Background:

CDP Japan led a series of engagement activities between June 2024 – April 2025, based on the engagement strategy developed in May 2024. Activities included holding public webinars, dedicated target-setting workshops, in-person events, in addition to translating key SBTN materials and answering members’ technical questions.

Resources & Outputs

SBTN resources translated to Japanese:

1. Corporate Manual for setting science-based targets for nature
2. Validation Submission Form for Step 1 & 2

SBTN featured in other key regional resources:

• Japanese Forestry Agency (FA), an observer of the SBTN Japan Working Group, developed a guide for companies disclosing on forests in Japan, based on the TNFD recommendations, and referencing SBTN.  
• Japanese Ministry of the Environment (MOE), an observer of the SBTN Japan Working Group, revised their guide on sustainability disclosure for Japanese companies, in which they incorporated the nature-related scenario analysis based on TNFD recommendations, and referred to SBTs for nature on target-setting. 

Events:

Webinar: Nature Sector Information Disclosure and Goal Setting Webinar (Open to the Public: July 19, 2024) Overview – Japanese. 

Materials: 

• CDP questionnaire and the latest trends in nature-related initiatives (Slides – Japanese)  
• Overview of Nature SBTs Guidance (Slides – Japanese)
• Information from the Ministry of the Environment (Slides – Japanese)
• Recording on the day
• Q&A

Webinar: Nature SBTs Goal Setting Webinar (Open to the Public: December 6, 2024) Overview

• Slides from the webinar presentation (Slides – Japanese)
• Explanation of the revised Nature SBTs Guidance Yachiyo Engineering Co., Ltd. ( Document – Japanese )
• Nature SBTs Case Study WWF France ( Slides – English )
• Full recording: Original language / Japanese translation

Seminar: CDP Water x Ministry of the Environment Water Project Seminar (FY 2024) (February 17, 2025)

In this seminar, speakers from various sectors discussed best practices for water-related information disclosure in line with the TNFD framework and setting science-based targets for nature. At the session called “Towards the Water-Positive by Setting SBTs for Nature,” Suntory Holdings shared their experience implementing the SBTN methods, alongside collaborator Kumamoto Groundwater Institute. Over 200 attended the seminar and about 1000 registered online.

Find seminar outputs here.

Get Involved

Interested in joining or connecting with SBTN’s Japanese regional initiative? 

Contact Eri Kakuta:  Eri.Kakuta@cdp.net

SBTN’s regional initiative in Latin America is led by UN Global Compact Mexico, which serves as the regional incubator for SBTi & SBTN. It includes 32 partner organizations across 12 Countries, including Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Guatemala, Bolivia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic. The initiative’s priorities are to train local organizations and consultancies in the SBTN methodology and to provide resources and training opportunities for Latin American companies in Spanish.

Resources & Outputs

The Latin America regional initiative has helped create the following key resources:

Webinar series on nature and biodiversity for Latin American companies

The 2024 edition was organized in collaboration with the Business for Nature LATAM Partners Group, a coalition of 13 organizations from eight countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. More than 750 companies from 16 countries participated in the entire series. 

The series consisted of four webinars structured around the steps of the ACT-D framework – Assess, Engage, Transform, and Disseminate – with the aim of providing comprehensive guidance to participants on how to integrate nature into their corporate strategies. Topics covered ranged from identifying nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities, setting science-based targets, taking transformative actions, and reporting on progress:

• Webinar 1 EVALUATE – Action for Nature: Assessing Private Sector Dependencies and Impacts
• Webinar 2 COMMIT – Setting SBTs for Nature
• Webinar 3 TRANSFORM – How to integrate nature into your business model and corporate strategy?
• Webinar 4: DISCLOSURE – Reporting and dissemination of information. Results of COP16    

Survey to identify the level of knowledge on impacts and dependencies on nature of companies in Latin America 

To better understand the corporate level of progress on nature in the region was conducted in 2024 for companies operating in Latin America and the Caribbean. The survey received 153 answers from 142 organizations in 13 countries and 17 different sectors. 60% of the respondents had more than 100 employees, 19% had between 30 and 100 employees, and 21% had less than 30 employees. 

Highlights:

• 60% of companies consider nature conservation a priority issue for their business
• 47% have assessed their impacts on nature and 24% have assessed their dependencies on nature
• 51% publicly disclose their environmental impact 
• 36% are aware of the Science Based Targets Network 

Get Involved

Contact:

• Emilio García: emilio.garcia@pactoglobal.org.mx
• Diana Herrera Orozco: diana.herrera@pactoglobal.org.mx

SBTN’s regional initiative in Southeast Asia (SEA) is led by Bestari Sustainability Indonesia, and includes 38+ local organizations from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. Current foci include:

• Raising local awareness and understanding of science-based targets for nature;
• Supporting companies and regional partners in aligning with SBTN methodologies;
• Providing capacity-building through technical training, resources, and localized engagement;
• Acting as a regional bridge between SBTN and key stakeholders in Southeast Asia.

Background:

The SEA initiative was launched in 2023, hosted by CDP. It focused on introducing SBTN and raising awareness of nature issues among corporations in the region.

Building on this foundation, in 2024, the initiative focused on deepening regional understanding of SBTN’s core steps through a webinar series. The series engaged 41 participants and aimed to build capacity, promote the application of SBTN across the region, engage regional stakeholders, and gather feedback to support the broader implementation of SBTN.  

Resources & Outputs

• Webinar on Step 1 – Assess (30 October 2024). This session provided an overview of the assessment process, including key methodologies and tools for companies to evaluate their nature-related impacts. Watch the recording.
• Webinar on Step 2 – Prioritize (21 November 2024). The focus was on prioritizing key environmental impacts and understanding how to address the most significant areas of business activity that affect nature. Watch the recording.
• Webinar on Step 3 – Target Setting (17 December 2024). This session covered the steps to set measurable, science-based targets for nature, ensuring 

that companies align with global sustainability goals. Watch the recording.

Get Involved

Contacts: 

• Nailah Shabirah: n.shabirah@bersama-lestari.com
• generaloffice@bersama-lestari.com 

SBTN’s regional initiative in Taiwan is led by BCSD Taiwan and ERM Taiwan. The initiative’s current focus is translating the SBTN Corporate Manual into Traditional Chinese.

Background:

Between December 2024 and July 2025, these organizations brought together a group of 4 companies preparing to set science-based targets for nature – including companies from industries including hardware manufacturing, cement, telecommunication, and real estate. 

Through a series of workshops and meetings, participants shared experiences with one another, discussed questions and explored solutions together, enhancing their collective understanding of the SBTN approach to setting science-based targets for nature. 

Get Involved

Contact(s):

• lewis@bcsd.org.tw
• kenny@bcsd.org.tw