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The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has published a revision of its Corporate Net-Zero Standard, introducing a more flexible framework for companies to achieve emissions reductions across their operations and value chains. Of relevance for the logistics sector, the new Standard explicitly recognises the use of market-based instruments, including Book & Claim, subject to safeguards and a hierarchy that continues to prioritise direct emissions reductions.

Published on 11 June, the Corporate Net-Zero Standard Version 2.0 represents the first comprehensive review of SBTi's corporate net-zero framework. More than 11,000 companies worldwide have already set science-based targets under the SBTi framework. Version 2.0 will become available for target setting from 1 February 2027, with companies able to use either the existing V1.3.1 or the new V2.0 during a transition period. From 1 February 2028, V2.0 will become mandatory for new target submissions.

The revision moves the SBTi framework beyond target-setting towards a stronger focus on implementation. It introduces differentiated requirements according to company size and market context, more explicit links between climate targets and corporate transition planning, and stronger requirements for monitoring and reporting progress.

For freight transport, one of the most significant developments is SBTi's approach to market instruments. Version 2.0 establishes an implementation hierarchy under which companies should first pursue actions that directly reduce emissions within their own operations and value chains. Where direct interventions are not feasible or sufficient, the framework allows companies to use other approaches, including activity-pool and sector-level actions. These can be supported by market instruments such as energy attribute and commodity certificates using chain-of-custody models including mass balance and Book & Claim, provided the relevant SBTi safeguards are met.

Book & Claim addresses this problem by separating the environmental attribute of the lower-emission fuel from its physical delivery. A company can finance or purchase the environmental attributes associated with a quantity of eligible lower-emission fuel introduced elsewhere into the relevant transport system and claim the corresponding emissions benefit, without requiring the fuel to be physically allocated to its individual shipment.

Beyond Book & Claim, V2.0 changes several important elements of the corporate target-setting framework. Scope 1 and Scope 2 targets are separated rather than combined. Scope 1 targets must cover 100% of direct emissions, while SBTi retains both absolute and intensity-based approaches and introduces an asset-transition option for sectors with long-lived capital assets where a simple linear emissions reduction trajectory may not be appropriate.  

The treatment of electricity emissions has also been revised. Companies must address 100% of purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling, with the Standard placing greater emphasis on the physical decarbonisation of electricity supply. Companies can set either an emissions target or an alignment target, with the latter moving from renewable electricity towards the broader concept of low-carbon electricity. Version 2.0 also introduces a more continuous target cycle. Companies are expected to report annually and periodically assess progress, barriers and corrective measures, rather than treating validation of a target as the end of the process. New targets must subsequently be established to maintain alignment with a net-zero pathway. (

The official SBTi overview and V2.0 materials are available on the SBTi Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2.0 page.