{"id":43529,"date":"2021-02-24T15:31:09","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T15:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/?p=43529"},"modified":"2021-12-21T16:58:21","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T16:58:21","slug":"science-based-corporate-climate-targets-no-thing-says-former-advisor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2021\/02\/24\/science-based-corporate-climate-targets-no-thing-says-former-advisor\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Science-based&#8217; corporate climate targets are no such thing, says former advisor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>One of the instigators of an influential climate initiative for big business has<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>gone public with criticism of its target-setting process, saying it does not measure up to its ambition.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bill Baue was among half a dozen people to start developing the concept behind the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2012 and served on its technical advisory group until recently.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, he submitted a formal complaint to the initiative&#8217;s executive board and <a href=\"https:\/\/bbaue.medium.com\/formal-complaint-science-based-targets-conflicts-of-interest-f8199407ac10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">published it on Medium<\/a>, with a detailed critique of the framework used for major corporations to set climate targets.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Science-Based Targets is not a science-based approach,&#8221; Baue told Climate Home News. &#8220;I believe in this instance that SBTi&#8230; are putting their own interest above the interests of the public.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) was launched in 2015 to set the standard for companies to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and vet targets set by businesses.<\/p>\n<p>More than 1,000 companies across 50 sectors are working with the SBTi to reduce their emissions, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/sciencebasedtargets.org\/sbti-progress-report-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">initiative\u2019s latest progress report<\/a>. This includes household names like Siemens, Heineken and S&amp;P Global.<\/p>\n<p>These companies represent nearly 20% of global market capitalisation, or about $20.5 trillion. In recent months, the number of businesses joining the initiative <a href=\"https:\/\/sciencebasedtargets.org\/sbti-progress-report-2020\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has surged<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As companies trumpet their climate ambition, there is growing scrutiny of their plans and actions \u2014 and the opaque vetting process for the coveted &#8220;science-based&#8221; label.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo quell the great public skepticism about this initiative, what\u2019s needed is an additional emphasis on transparency and accountability, using the latest science to guide these targets, and for these companies to back up their targets with their investment plans,&#8221; said Jennifer Morgan, executive director at Greenpeace International.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2021\/02\/23\/hit-hurricanes-covid-central-americans-go-hungry-plan-migrate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Central America: <\/strong>Hit by hurricanes and Covid, millions go hungry and plan to migrate<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>SBTi&#8217;s proposition is that it works with companies to develop and approve targets and strategies to cut emissions in line with 1.5C\u00a0 \u2014 the toughest Paris goal.<\/p>\n<p>That involves a number of hidden assumptions. The size of the global carbon budget for 1.5C depends on how much carbon dioxide you expect to remove from the atmosphere and the temperature &#8220;overshoot&#8221; tolerated mid-century. Then there are judgement calls about how to share the shrinking carbon budget between sectors and geographies.<\/p>\n<p>Baue accused SBTi of \u201cpotential self-dealing and conflict of interest\u201d for recommending two ways of calculating corporate targets that were developed by the initiative\u2019s partners and excluding a method that could yield more robust emissions cuts.<\/p>\n<p>There was no transparency over which route the companies chose, he added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;[SBTi] are basically asking us, the world, to trust them to do this assessment and they are not going to reveal even the methodology that these companies use,&#8221; he said. \u201cThey are the lawyer, the judge and the jury in this situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After raising these concerns internally for the past two years, he escalated them to the executive board, which is constituted of the heads of the UN Global Compact, of the World Resources Institute, of WWF and of CDP.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of making his complaint, Baue still believed himself to be an advisor to SBTi. He only found that following publication of his concerns that the initiative had reconvened a new advisory group in October 2020 to improve gender, geographical and sectoral diversity &#8211; excluding him.<\/p>\n<p>SBTi acknowledged that it failed to inform previous advisors of their expired membership &#8220;due to an internal miscommunication&#8221; and &#8220;greatly regret this lapse&#8221;.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2021\/02\/19\/concerns-raised-green-climate-fund-flood-defence-project-samoa\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Samoa: <\/strong>Concerns raised about Green Climate Fund flood defence project<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Responding to Climate Home&#8217;s questions, the steering committee of the Science Based Targets initiative said: \u201cA rigorous, science-based approach is at the very core of the SBTi\u2019s work and we take extremely seriously our role in upholding this. This is why our methodologies undergo strict evaluation each year, to ensure they are in line with the latest climate science.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our mission is to drive down corporate emissions for a net-zero, 1.5C world, and this goal ultimately is at the heart of our decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SBTi denied that it or partner organisations derived any benefits from the use of the methods it recommends. \u201cIt is not clear to us what other \u2018interest\u2019 this supposedly conflicts with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Baue\u2019s complaint followed the publication of <a href=\"https:\/\/iopscience.iop.org\/article\/10.1088\/1748-9326\/abe57b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an independent study<\/a> in the journal <em>Environmental Research Letters<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The study assessed seven methods for setting corporate climate targets. It found that a target-setting methodology developed by the US-based Center for Sustainable Organizations (CSO), was aligned with the latest 1.5C climate science and offered the lowest risk of an under or overshoot of the global carbon budget.<\/p>\n<p>While initially endorsed by SBTi, the CSO methodology was dropped from its toolkit in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSBTi now finds itself in what we might call an \u2018inconvenient\u2019 position of recommending\u00a0<em>against<\/em> the very methodology that is the most robust!\u201d Baue wrote in his complaint.<\/p>\n<p>SBTi said its <a href=\"https:\/\/sciencebasedtargets.org\/news\/understand-science-based-targets-methods-climate-action\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">reason for dropping the CSO methodology<\/a> was its reliance on economic intensity as an input. That decision was based on concerns that economic performance indicators have \u201ca weak and unstable link\u201d to emissions at the company level.<\/p>\n<p>The steering committee said it had intended to present these concerns formally in a research paper but this had been delayed because of resource constraints and competing priorities.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Climate news in your inbox?<strong>\u00a0Sign up\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/newsletter-sign-up\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Instead, SBTi recommends companies reduce emissions in line with 1.5C in a straight downward trajectory, known as the Absolute Contraction Approach (ACA).<\/p>\n<p>The study in <em>Environmental Research Letters<\/em> found this method had a much larger risk of overshoot of the carbon budget to 2050 than other methods. SBTi said it used the method to help companies set 5-15 years targets, for which the method shows no or limited overshoot.<\/p>\n<p>The second method recommended by SBTi, known as the Sectoral Decarbonisation Approach (SDA), only aligns with <a href=\"https:\/\/sciencebasedtargets.org\/resources\/files\/Sectoral-Decarbonization-Approach-Report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">holding temperature \u201cwell below 2C\u201d<\/a> rather than 1.5C. Only <a href=\"https:\/\/sciencebasedtargets.org\/resources\/legacy\/2020\/06\/SBTi-Power-Sector-15C-guide-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">power utilities<\/a> can align with 1.5C using this method.<\/p>\n<p>That is because the sectoral approach was initially developed using scenarios from the International Energy Agency aligned with 2C. The IEA has yet to release its 1.5C-aligned scenario, which is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/news\/iea-to-produce-world-s-first-comprehensive-roadmap-to-net-zero-emissions-by-2050\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">expected in May<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>SBTI\u2019s steering committee said the lack of 1.5C-aligned SDA pathway was an issue it took \u201cvery seriously\u201d and described the delay in updating the model as \u201cfrustrating\u201d. It said it did not rely solely on IEA data and was working to update the methodology.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.climatechangenews.com\/2021\/02\/22\/eu-spent-e440-million-failed-gas-projects-since-2013-study-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Study:<\/strong> EU spent \u20ac440 million on failed gas projects since 2013<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Anders Bj\u00f8rn, co-author of the recent study from Concordia University in Montreal, told Climate Home he was &#8220;puzzled&#8221; by SBTi&#8217;s decision to only recommend two methodologies and that its rationale for doing so \u201clacked transparency\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Bj\u00f8rn called on SBTi to require more transparency from companies. Companies setting climate targets under SBTi don\u2019t usually disclose what methods they have used to set their goals \u2014 something that should change, Bj\u00f8rn said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is not even a mention that there is a choice in the method,\u201d he said, adding that companies should be honest about the fact their targets\u00a0reflect a\u00a0value judgment on how to share the global emissions budget.<\/p>\n<p>Jed Davis, director of sustainability at Cabot Creamery Co-operative and a former SBTi advisory board member, told Climate Home: \u201cThere needs to be a deeper valuing of transparency in the process. This won&#8217;t serve anybody if it is a black box process.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the number of businesses setting &#8216;science-based&#8217; targets surges, experts are calling for more transparency over how those numbers are calculated","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":43531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4247,159,4171],"tags":[4672,4673],"coauthors":[4267],"class_list":["post-43529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1-5c","category-climate-science","category-paris-agreement","tag-sbti","tag-science-based-targets-initiative","type-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&#039;Science-based&#039; corporate climate targets are no such thing, says former advisor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As the number of businesses setting &#039;science-based&#039; 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