SBTi Separates Validation and Standard-Setting Entities as Governance Overhaul Begins

The Science Based Targets initiative announced the structural separation of its target validation services from its standard-setting function, adopting recognised best practice for assurance bodies. Former ENEL CEO Francesco Starace was appointed Chair of the SBTi Board of Trustees as part of the governance overhaul.

The transformation programme comprises five pillars: legal incorporation of the SBTi as an independent UK entity seeking charitable status; appointment of a new Chair and independent Trustees; creation of separate standard-setting and validation entities; strengthened standard-setting governance aligned with international best practice; and restructuring of the validation service provider to scale capacity. Alongside Francesco Starace, former Colombian President Iván Duque and Ester Baiget joined the Board of Trustees. The SBTi registered as a company limited by guarantee and submitted an application to the UK Charity Commission.

The announcement came following the hottest three months ever recorded globally, with the SBTi framing urgency in corporate climate action as a central motivation. The initiative recorded an 87% year-on-year increase in companies setting science-based targets in the prior year and forecast more than 10,000 companies would have validated targets by 2025. Headcount doubled and average waiting times for validations were halved in the preceding year. An independent Technical Council, appointed earlier in 2023 to review and approve SBTi standards, held its first meeting in July 2023.

The SBTi was previously a collaborative initiative between WWF, CDP, World Resources Institute, UN Global Compact and the We Mean Business Coalition. Although now independent, it retains close ties with founding partners, whose representatives continue on the Board. CEO Luiz Amaral said the primary remit on joining was to build governance while scaling to meet demand, calling the appointments a milestone in that programme. Standard-setting procedures developed by the Technical Council were being finalised for publication at the time of the announcement.

Key figure — 87% year-on-year increase in companies setting science-based targets in 2022