Target setting process questions
Here we provide answers to common technical questions that companies have as they are going through the target-setting process.
Our main 2024 release is here!
Explore all of our latest guidance via the target-setting guide below, also available offline through our corporate manual.
➤ Announcing first-ever corporate adoption of freshwater and land targets
This achievement marks a major step forward in advancing ambitious and measurable corporate action on nature. This news comes on the heels of SBTN’s year-long corporate pilot, which demonstrated the feasibility and value of science-based targets for nature.
Our target-setting process
The SBTN target-setting process is divided into five steps; Assess, Prioritize, Set targets, Act and Track. Each step contains methods, tools and additional resources to guide companies through the process. We also have cross-step guidance available.
The first two steps help companies assess and prioritize their environmental impacts and then set targets, beginning with freshwater and land. Biodiversity is integrated across our guidance. Ocean targets will be available in 2025 and climate targets are set via our partner organisation Science Based Targets initiative.
We have developed detailed technical guidance for the first three steps of the process with further guidance on the final two steps – Act and Track – coming in 2025.
Step 1 - Assess
This step gives you a high-level understanding of environmental materiality of your activities and an overview of the pressures and the state of nature associated with your value chain.
Step 2 - Prioritize
Prioritize areas where action has the biggest overall impact, considering actions from your operations and across your value chain to the landscapes surrounding your value chain.
Step 3 - Set targets
This step is where you set and validate your science-based targets. The validation process has recently been piloted and will be available later in 2024.
Depending on your material impacts, you can set targets for freshwater, land and climate (via SBTi). Biodiversity is partially covered within the freshwater and land targets with a comprehensive analysis in development. Ocean targets will be available in 2025.
Step 4 - Act
The methods for this step are in the planning stage, and will include actions you can take to meet your targets. In the meantime, follow our initial guidance.
Step 5 - Track
Guidance for this step is in the planning stages, and will include guidance on how to:
- Measure progress towards your targets
- Report targets and progress
- Verify the accuracy of targets over time
We have high-level measurement guidance for companies getting started today.
Cross-step guidance
Here you can find technical guidance and supporting resources that are relevant across the target-setting process, including how science-based targets for nature support biodiversity and stakeholder engagement guidance.
How does it work?
The target-setting process is open source and free to use for all companies. Companies do not need to register, they can simply start to use our guidance – available in our Resource Library. However, to set official targets, companies must obtain validation through our validation host, the Accountability Accelerator (available late 2024).
Getting started
Setting science-based targets for nature represents a significant business opportunity and holds the potential for enormous positive impact both for your organization and the environment. It is an ambitious and comprehensive endeavor that requires the gathering of value chain data, enabling processes to engage with suppliers and local stakeholders, collaborating across the organization as well as securing leadership buy-in. We have provided initial support and resources to help get you started and aim to provide further resources soon.