SBTi Services Launches Validation Portal to Meet Surging Corporate Demand

SBTi Services Limited launched its dedicated website and Validation Portal in October 2024, streamlining the science-based target submission and validation process for companies globally. The launch follows a close to 60 percent increase in the number of businesses with validated targets in the nine months preceding the announcement.

SBTi Services Limited was established as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Science Based Targets initiative to provide target validation services, separating that function from the parent organisation's standard-setting activities. The new SBTi Services Validation Portal, launched in October 2024, is the first step in a broader effort to make the validation process more user-friendly and scalable. Tutorial resources were released alongside the portal to support companies navigating the new system. The Validation Portal is expected to expand in 2025 to encompass all elements of the validation process within a single platform.

The scale-up of validation services responds to exceptional growth in corporate engagement with SBTi standards. As of October 2024, more than 6,000 businesses had received validated science-based targets, with another approximately 3,000 formally committed to submitting targets for validation. The 60 percent increase in validated businesses recorded in the nine months to October 2024 underscores the acceleration in corporate climate commitment adoption. SBTi's structural separation of standard-setting and validation functions is designed to allow both activities to scale efficiently while maintaining governance standards.

Interim CEO Sue Jenny Ehr stated that setting targets is the crucial first step in a company's decarbonisation journey and that SBTi Services was established to meet urgent demand at pace. The Validation Portal and related infrastructure improvements are intended to reduce friction in the target-setting process and enable a greater number of companies—including those in emerging markets—to engage with science-based climate targets. Further enhancements to the portal are planned throughout 2025.

Key figure — Over 6,000 businesses with validated science-based targets as of October 2024