Companies, if they bother at all, tend to set absolute emission reduction targets with no real benchmark in mind. While this was laudable in the past, it is more important now to align the reduction goal according to the budgets that are consistent with the level of decarbonization required by science to limit warming to less than 1.5ºC / 2°C compared to preindustrial temperatures.

The Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) is a joint initiative by CDP, the UN Global Compact (UNGC), the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) intended to increase corporate ambition on climate action by mobilizing companies to set science based reduction targets.

The SBTI Sectoral Decarbonization Approach (SDA) sets the expected levels of emissions for broad segments of industrial activity e.g. Energy, Iron & Steel, Pulp and Paper, etc.. and then helps companies set reduction targets based on the relative contribution of the company to the total sector activity and their carbon intensity. YvesBlue has permission to bring in the list of companies that have signed up to work with SBTI to set targets this way.

If your portfolio companies are on this list, then your portfolio is more likely to be on its way to being properly aligned with 1.5ºC / 2°C. If you have companies in your portfolio that do not have an SBTI commitment, encourage them to do so using the YvesBlue engagement portal.