SBTi Seeks Experts to Develop Oil and Gas Emissions Standard

The Science Based Targets initiative has opened a call for experts to join a new advisory group that will inform the development of a science-based target-setting standard specifically for the oil and gas sector. The standard is expected to be published in late 2024 and will cover the full oil and gas value chain from exploration and extraction through to retail and marketing.

The SBTi is convening an Expert Advisory Group for the oil and gas sector in January 2024, with applications open until 15 December 2023. The initiative restarted the oil and gas project in 2022 after a pause that began in 2021, and published an external expert review in January 2023 outlining specific technical and methodological issues. The forthcoming standard will address scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions across the full value chain and will disaggregate scope 1 and 2 targets from scope 3 targets, recognising the different decarbonisation levers available for each.

Fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes account for 85% of global CO2 emissions and 64% of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the IPCC. The SBTi's approach to the oil and gas sector is structured around three dimensions: supply, demand and finance. While SBTi guidance already addresses demand-side fossil fuel use through sector-specific and cross-sector criteria, a dedicated standard for oil and gas producers has been absent. The initiative argues that credible 1.5°C scenarios require deep reductions in both the production and use of fossil fuels, necessitating coordinated action from producers, end-users and financial institutions.

The new standard will also inform SBTi's approach to adjacent sectors, including coal, gas utilities and a planned revision of guidance for electric utilities and power generation. The EAG will evaluate options for sector scope and disaggregation, emission scenarios and pathways — drawing in particular on recent IEA analysis — and target-setting metrics and methods at the activity level rather than the segment level. Companies and institutions with relevant expertise in the oil and gas sector are encouraged to review the published Terms of Reference and submit an application before the December 2023 deadline.

Key figure — 85% of global CO2 from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes