Effective Target Setting: A Critical Pathway to Net-Zero

Curtis Harnanan

Director

North America

Table of Contents

• Recent Shifts & Changes
• Upcoming Insights
• How Anthesis Can Help
• Contact Us

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It has been nearly a decade since the Paris Agreement was negotiated in December 2015. In that time, the world has witnessed some of the most unimaginable impacts of climate change, with tragic weather-related events that rival fiction.  

In the same period, there has also been a plethora of activities focused on climate, including: 

• A rapid evolution in climate science and the implications of limiting planetary warming to a 1.5° Celsius threshold.
• An elevated level of stakeholder and investor scrutiny on climate action, with an expectation of enhanced annual public disclosure. 
• The establishment, proliferation, and eventual criticism of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) as the global de facto on target-setting guidance and approval of targets.
• Voluntary corporate-level action by tens of thousands of businesses to assess, strategise, and develop initial science-based targets, and to prepare for their next generation of targets. 
• An elevation of corporate climate change governance and accountability to the C-Suites and Boardrooms.
• Alignment on what is required to achieve “net-zero”, corporate commitments to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 (or earlier), and the latest proposed changes to SBTi’s Corporate Net-Zero Standard v2.0.
• A dedicated role for emission avoidance offsets in supporting broader societal decarbonisation and parallel corporate neutrality strategies to rapidly achieve net-zero.
• Innovation and investments in an array of technological and nature-based decarbonisation mechanisms.
• Political support and rejection, vacillation, and apathy on national climate commitments.
• Methodological controversies on what is considered appropriate to abating GHG emissions within the context of reduction targets.
• Grassroots movements heightening the public’s awareness of the climate crisis, and even some unorthodox displays of activist protest at museums.
• The evolution from a predominantly voluntary market to one where regulation is taking a more prominent role (i.e., EU Omnibus, CSRD, CSDDD, CBAM, CA SB 253, SB 261, and SB 219, CA AB 1305, CA AB 405, etc.).
• A broader recognition (finally) of the interconnectivity and criticality of nature and just transition to successfully addressing climate change.

All these shifts and changes are not just a lot to list, but also to navigate. Yet despite differences in politics and perspectives, there is little question that we need a livable, sustainable planet for the future.  

From a corporate perspective, the sentiment is not too dissimilar: business needs to be relevant and resilient in a future sustainable economy.  

Grounding this “need” for sustainability within the “noise” of the past decade can be quite overwhelming. At best it is confusing and difficult to understand what really matters and how to prioritise what you need to do next, or perhaps even where to begin. 

Over the next year, our net-zero and decarbonisation experts will offer a series of regular thought-pieces that will include both retrospective and forward-looking insights. Over the course of this series, we aim to provide a distillation of the most business-critical elements, clarity on why these are important, and succinct guidance on what you need to do next.  

We will cover topics including: 

• The “why” of climate targets and fitting them into overall business strategy. 
• The pros and cons of the SBTi, navigating “regulatory alphabet soup,” and target compliance  
• What does ‘best’ look like for the Technology, Food & Agriculture, and Retail & Apparel sectors? 
• Roadmapping the net-zero journey and integrating Nature and Just Transition into your strategy and transition plans. 

In our next installment, Associate Directors Dana Jennings and Jonathan Oon provide an overview of climate targets and why they are necessary.

How Anthesis Can Help 

Anthesis offers comprehensive support to organisations throughout their business climate and sustainability journey.  

Partnering with Anthesis ensures that your organisation’s sustainable performance is credible, ambitious, and aimed at securing future relevancy and resiliency for your business.