SBTi Companies Reach 96% Scope 3 Coverage as Targets Double by 2022

The Science Based Targets initiative reported that 96% of companies with validated science-based targets had adopted scope 3 coverage by end-2022, as total validated companies grew to over 2,300. Combined scope 1 and 2 emissions covered by science-based targets reached two billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent, equivalent to Japan and Germany's combined 2022 emissions.

By end-2022, 1,134 companies, or 96% of all SBTi companies excluding SMEs and financial institutions, had scope 3 targets. Of companies setting scope 3 targets that year, 63 established supplier engagement targets, bringing the total with such targets to 189, or 16% of all SBTi companies. Net-zero targets represented 12% of all science-based targets set in 2022, with 130 organisations adopting them. The proportion of companies with 1.5 degrees Celsius-aligned targets reached 79% by end-2022, up from 68% at end-2021.

The total scope 1 and 2 emissions covered by science-based targets grew nearly 15 times between 2015 and 2022, from 145 million to two billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Companies in the United States, Germany and France together accounted for 47% of total scope 1 and 2 emissions coverage. The committed annual emissions reductions across all approved targets reached 76 million tonnes of CO2e by end-2022, equivalent to eliminating Switzerland's annual emissions more than twice over.

Of companies with 1.5 degrees Celsius-classified targets, 65% indicated they intended to reduce scope 1 and 2 emissions at a rate exceeding the 4.2% annual minimum required for 1.5 degrees Celsius alignment. SME participation also grew significantly, with 638 of the 1,097 companies validated in 2022 being SMEs, exceeding the combined SME total from 2020 and 2021. Financial institutions with validated targets reached 47, up from nine in 2021, reflecting growing engagement from the financial sector.

Key figure — 2 billion tonnes CO2e covered by science-based targets at end-2022