SBTi: The Global Corporate Climate Commitment Benchmark
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) is a partnership between CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute, and the World Wide Fund for Nature. It defines and promotes best practice in emissions reductions and net-zero targets in line with climate science, and independently assesses and approves companies' targets.
As of early 2026, more than 10,000 companies across 70+ countries have committed to setting science-based targets. Collectively, these companies represent over USD 60 trillion in market capitalisation and employ more than 150 million people. The scale of the SBTi commitment base has grown from approximately 4,000 companies in 2022 to over 10,000 in early 2026 — a 150% increase in three years.
The Corporate Net-Zero Standard: Carbon Removal as a Requirement
The SBTi's Corporate Net-Zero Standard, released in October 2021, sets the most rigorous framework for corporate net-zero claims. It requires companies to:
- Reduce emissions across all scopes (1, 2, and 3) by at least 90% against a base year by no later than 2050
- Neutralise residual emissions (the remaining 10% or less) through permanent carbon removals
- Avoid claiming 'net-zero' through offsets alone without underlying emissions reductions
The explicit requirement for permanent carbon removals to neutralise residual emissions — rather than offsets — is critical. It creates a structural demand for carbon removal credits that is qualitatively different from the earlier voluntary offset market. Companies cannot credibly claim SBTi net-zero status without documented removal credits in their neutralisation portfolio.
Scope 3 Disclosure: Widening the Demand Base
A critical driver of demand expansion is the SBTi's requirement for Scope 3 emissions targets for companies in sectors where Scope 3 emissions represent more than 40% of total emissions. Scope 3 covers the full value chain — upstream suppliers, logistics, and downstream product use and end-of-life. This requirement means that even companies with limited direct emissions face growing pressure to engage with supply chain decarbonisation — and supply chain partners that produce verified carbon removals become strategic assets rather than commodity vendors.
CSRD Alignment: The Regulatory Mandate Behind the Voluntary Commitment
The SBTi commitment is voluntary, but its intersection with the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is creating a quasi-mandatory dynamic for large EU companies. CSRD requires companies to disclose their climate transition plans, including how they intend to achieve net-zero, under the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Companies with SBTi commitments have a ready-made framework for satisfying CSRD climate transition plan disclosure requirements — making SBTi adoption increasingly attractive as CSRD compliance pressure builds.
Demand Implications for Carbon Removal Investment
The 10,000+ SBTi-committed companies represent a large, growing, and creditworthy demand base for high-integrity carbon removals. Translating the commitment base into demand projections:
- If each committed company needs to neutralise an average of just 50,000 tCO2 in residual emissions by 2050, the aggregate demand from SBTi-committed companies alone exceeds 500 million tCO2 in carbon removal requirements
- At current CRCF-grade credit pricing projections of EUR 40–80/tCO2, this represents a EUR 20–40 billion demand pool from SBTi corporates alone
- Given the current global carbon removal supply shortfall — estimated at over 95% below required levels for a 1.5°C pathway — the supply-demand imbalance strongly favours removal credit producers
For agroforestry investment strategies structured to deliver CRCF-certified removal credits, the SBTi's growth trajectory provides a robust, policy-backed demand signal that reinforces the long-term investment thesis independent of short-term carbon price fluctuations.
Ten thousand companies have publicly committed to science-based net-zero targets. Each of them will need high-quality carbon removals. The market for credible agroforestry credits is not speculative — it is the mathematical consequence of commitments already made.